THE  LIFE 


SAMUEL  MILLER,  D.D.,LL.D., 


SECOND   PROFESSOR 

IX   THE 

THEOLOGICAL  SEMIXAKY  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH, 
AT    PRINCETOX,   NEW    JERSEY. 


BY 

SAMUEL  MILLEK. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

claxton,  remsen  and  haffelfinger, 

No3.  819  and  821  Market  Street. 

1869. 


\ 


"»*  >'•  -  -■>*•> 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  by 

SAMUEL   MILLER, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of 

New  Jersey. 


JAS.  B.  RODGERS  CO  ,  Printers, 

52  &  54  North  Sixth  St. 


TA.BLE   OF  COlSrTEISrTS, 


PART  THIRD  :   PRINCET0:N". 

1813-1850. 


CHAPTER   TWENTY-FOURTH. 

1813-1820. 

First  Years  ix  the  Professorship. — 1.  Neio  Scenes  and  Duties. — 
Diary  :  Resolutions  for  Princeton — Politics — At  the  polls — Letter  to  Mr. 
Richards — Female  Aid  Societies — Residence  in  Princeton — Buildino- — . 
Dr.  Alexander — Seminary  edifice — Recitation-rooms — Corner-stone — 
State  attachments — 9-14. — 2.  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller. — Dr.  Board- 
man's  remarks — Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander's — Dr.  Alexander's  Sabbath  ser- 
vice— Mrs.  M.'s  diary — Pulpit  labors — Princeton  worship — Extract  from 
Dr.  Boardman — Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick — 14-18. — 3.  Correspond- 
ence.— Letter  to  Dr.  Green — to  Col.  Duane — Corrupting  publications — 
Letter  to  Mr.  J,  H.  Rice  ;  Presbyterian  Church  and  civil  liberty — Cor- 
respondence with  Mr.  Searle  :  Presidency  of  Dartmouth — 18-23. — 4. 
Miscellaneous  Topics. — Dr.  T.  Y.  How's  Vindication — Revision  of  Govern- 
ment, Discipline  and  Worship — Synod's  African  School — Hopkinsian 
"New  Test."  controversy — Letter  from  Dr.  McCrie — Hopkinsianism  in 
the  General  Assembly — Publications — Death  of  Col.  and  Mrs.  McLane — 
The  College — 23-29. — 5.  Reminiscences . — Mr.  Sprague's — Dr.  McFarland's 
— 29-37. — 6.  Correspondence. — With  Mr.  J.  H.  Rice:  Exhorters  and  Cate- 
chists— Letter  to  Mrs.  FuUerton— Death  of  Dr.  S.  S.  Smith— 37-40.— 7. 
Education  Societies. — Am.  Ed.  Society — Ed.  Soc.  of  Presbyterian  Church 
— Opposition — Ed.  Soc.  of  Presb.  Church,  under  care  of  Gen.  Assembly 
—  Controversy — Professors'  circular — Assembly's  Board  of  Education — 
New  Brunswick  auxiliary — 40-44. — 8,  Correspondence. — Letter  to  Dr. 
Rice — Dr.  Rice's  sermon — Wants  of  the  Seminary — Dr.  Alexander — 
Mr.  Charles  Hodge — Letter  to  Mr.  Freeman — Mrs.  M.'s  diary — Letter  to 
Miss  Patten — Journeying  in  New  England — Correspondence  with  Ex- 
president  J.  Adams — Contributions  to  Virginia  Magazine — Letter  to 
Dr.  Rice — Rival  Seminaries — Letters  from  pupils — 44-53. —  9-53. 

iii 


iv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   TWENTY-FIFTH. 

1820-1823. 

CoRRESPOXDEXCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS. — 1.  3Iiscellaneoiis  Topics. — Letter 
to  Ml-.  Wisner,  in  Boston — Freemasonry — Letter  to  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. — 
To  Mr.  Sprague — 54-58. — 2,  Ordination  of  the  Rev.  William  Nevi7is. — Ser- 
mon— Extracts — Mr.  Priestley — "Unitarian  of  Baltimore" — Reply — 
Letter  to  Mr.  Wisner — 58-60. — 3.  '■'■Letters  on  Unitarianism.''^ — Reasons 
for  the  AVork — Letter  from  Dr.  Swift — To  Mr.  Wisner — Correspondence 
with  Mr.  J.  Taylor — Letter  to  Miss  Edgeworth — Episcopal  Review  of 
■\vork — 61-68. — 4.  Correspondence. — Letters  to  Mr.  Sprague — To  A.  B.C. 
F.  M. — Ordination  of  Messrs.  Goodell,  Richards  and  Bishop — Sermon — 
68-70. — 5.  Prtsidenci/  of  the  College. — Dr.  Green's  resignation — Dr.  Rice 
chosen — Letter  to  Dr.  Rice — He  declines — Dr.  Lindsley  declines — Dr. 
Carnahan  inaugurated — Dr.  Green's  Christian  Advocate — Letter  to  Dr. 
Green — 70-73. — 6.  '■^Letters  on  the  Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ.'^ — Contro- 
versy— Professor  Stuart — Dr.  M.'s  account — Prof.  Stuart's  — Letters 
Extract — Dr.  Miller's  Reply — Extract — Letter  to  Mr.  Wisner — To  Dr. 
Green — From  Dr.  Livingston — 73-82. —  54-82. 

CHAPTER   TWENTY-SIXTH. 

1823-1826. 

Changes  and  Labors. — 1.   Mrs.  Margaret  Breckinridge. — Marriage — 
Profession  of  religion — Elizabeth — Mr.  Breckinridge — 83,  84. — 2.    Ser- 
mons   and    Correspondence. — "Literary   Fountains  Healed" — Advertise- 
ment— "  Day  of  Prayer  for  Colleges  " — Letter  to  Dr.  Griilin — Dedication 
of  Arch  street   Presbyterian  Church — Sermon — Extracts — Sermon  for 
African  School — Extracts — Dr.  Rice's  review — Slavery — African  School 
— Letter  to  Mr.  Sprague — To  Mr.  Sparks — To  Mr.  Sanfoi-d — Ecclesias- 
tical History — Letter  to  Mr.  Beatty — Funds  of  Seminary — Letter  to  Mr. 
Nettleton — 84-96. — 3.     Lecture    on    Creeds    and     Confessions. — Rev.    Mr. 
Duncan — Dr.  M.'s  lecture — Christian  Advocate's  review — High-church 
encomiums — Dr.   M.'s  Reply — Bible    and    Common    Prayer — Unitarian 
condemnation — Liberal    Christianity — 96-102. — 4.     Death    of    Elizabeth 
Miller. — Female    prayer-meeting — Visits    to    Schooley's     Mountain — A 
mountain  church — Letter  from  Mr.  Henry — To  Miss  Sergeant :   Eliza- 
beth's death — Death-scenes — 102-105. — 5.    Miscellaneous  'Topics. — Letter 
to  Dr.  Rice — Death  of  Dr.  Livingston — Dr.  M.'s  tribute — Letter  to  Dr. 
Green — Journey  in  New  York — Discourse  before  Lit.  Phil.  Soc.  of  N.  J. 
— Letter  to  Mr.  Sprague — Biblical  Repertory — Introductory  Lecture — 
Contents — Mr.  Duncan  on  Creeds — "Letter  to    a  Gentleman   of  Balti- 
more"— ]Mr.  Gibson's  review — Domestic  Missions — Am.  Home  Mission- 
ary Society — Dr.  Alexander's  and  Dr.  M.'s  approval — Commissioners  to 
Gen.  Assoc,   of  Conn. — Mr.  Chambers  in  Philadelphia — Letter   to  Dr. 
Rice — Issue — Installation  of  Mr.  J.  Breckinridge  in  Baltimore — Sermon 
— Christian  Advocate's  review — 105-116. —  83-116. 


CONTENTS.  V 

CHAPTER   TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

1826,  1827. 

Habits  and  Manners — 1.  Rural  Pursuits. — Husbandry — Lettei'  from 
Dr.  Rice — From  Dr.  13.  Fiske — House  and  Grounds — Gardening — Farm- 
ing— Benefits — Care  of  health — Riding  and  driving — Family  walks — 
Recreations — On  horseback — 117-123. — 2.  ^'■Clerical  Manners  and  Ha- 
bits.''— Dr.  M.'s  work — Need  of  it — His  own  manners — Extracts  from 
Dr.  Sprague — 'From  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander — Dr.  Boardman — Dr.  Halsey 
— Watchman  and  Reflector — Letter  from  Prof.  Stuart — From  Mr.  Wisner 
— Dr.  Greville  Ewing — Review  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Alexander — liy  Christian 
Advocate— 123-131.  117-131. 

CHAPTER   TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

1827-1831. 

Quiet  Years. — 1.  Slate  of  the  Church. — The  College. — Church  troubles 
— Quiet  undisturbed — Straits  of  the  College — Scattering  and  Withhold- 
ing— 132-13-1. — 2.  Correspondence. — Letter  to  Mr.  Sprague — To  Mr.  Wis- 
ner— Introductory  Lecture — Letter  to  Mr.  Moore — Inadequate  prepara- 
tion for  Ministry — Letter  to  Dr.  Codman — Sabbath  Schools — Letters  to 
Dr.  Sprague— To  Dr.  L.  Beecher— To  daughter— 134-142.— 3.  Publica- 
tions.— Introductory  Lecture — Extracts — Letter  from  Prof.  Stuart — In- 
stallation of  Dr.  Sprague — Sermon — Extracts — Letter  to  Dr.  Sprague — 
To  Dr.  Wisner — Introductory  Essay  to  Sprague's  Lectures — Letter  to 
Dr.  Sprague — Murray-street  Lecture — 143-148. — 4.  Gathering  Clouds. — 
New-Schoolism — Dr.  M.'s  course — Position  of  a  Professor — ^lodification 
of  views — Moderate  Hopkinsianism — Taylorism— Extract  from  Dr.  Spring 
— Mr.  Barnes — Called  to  Philadelphia — Proposed  prosecution — 'Letter 
to  Dr.  Green — Advice  disregarded — Correspondence  with  Mr.  Barnes — 
Call  accepted — Newspaper  controversy — Opposition  in  Presbytery — 
Leave  to  prosecute  call — Reception  of  Mr.  Barnes — Complaint  to  Synod 
sustained — Condemnation  of  Mr.  Barnes's  sermon — Conference  with  Mr. 
Barnes — Mistake  of  prosecutors — Errors  of  Mr.  Barnes — Death  of 
Elizabeth  Breckinridge — 148-159. — ''i.  Letters  upon  the  Christian  Ministrg. 
— Dr.  J.  E.  Cooke — His  Essay — Review  by  Presb.  Advocate — Extracts- — 
Dr.  Cooke's  charges — Letters  upon  Ministry  republished — History  of  tlie 
controversy — 159-164. — 6.  Religious  Fasting. — Two  Sermons — Extracts 
— 164-167. — 7.  Correspo)  deuce. — Letters  to  Dr.  Mitchell  and  Dr.  Chal- 
mers— To  daughter — To  Chief  Justice  Ewing — From  Mr.  J.  W.  Alexan- 
der— 167-171. — 8.  ll\c  Ruling  Eldership. — Essay  on  the  Ruling  Elder — 
Extract — Dr.  Lorimer's  opinion — Previous  works — Mr.  Guthrie's  treat- 
ise— Extract — Dr.  M.'s  view — Answer  to  Dr.  J.  P.  Wilson — Other  views 
—171-174—  132-174. 

CHAPTER   TWENTY-NINTH. 

1831. 

Household  Religion. — 1.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller. — Harmony — Differ- 
ences— Dr.  M.'s  religious  experience — Mrs.  M.'s — Views  of  world — 
Benevolence — Faith     and     superstition — Liberality — Silver     dollars — 

1* 


yi  CONTENTS. 

Household  Economy— Agreement  in  doctrine — Temper— Self-control— 
Disao-reement- 175-180  — 2.  The  Closet  and  the  j?=a?«//y.— Practical  reli- 
giJn^Secret  worship— United  prayer— Consistency— Word  and  prayer 
—Children  of  the  Covenant— Infant  baptism— Family  worship— Keli- 
ffious  training— Scriptures  by  heart— Westminster  Catechisms- Lord's 
day— Public  worship— Abstracts  of  sermons— 180-186.  3.  A\  orldbj 
.4wiwsme;i^s.— Newspaper  articles— Promiscuous  dancing— Extracts— 
Novels— Extract  from  Retrospect— Spiritual  intoxication— Ext_ract— 
186-190.—  .  175-190. 

CHAPTER   THIRTIETH. 
1831,  1832. 

Troubles  Without  and  W^ithin.— 1.  The  General  Assemhhj .—Yir^i 
conflicts— Letter  to  Mrs.  Wales— Mrs.  M."s  diary— Old  School  and  New 
School  —  Moderator  —  Committee-man  —  Argument  of  Dr.  M.— Mr. 
Barnes's  case— Reference  to  committee— Dr.  xM.'s  report— Elective  affi- 
nity—Church boards— Opposition  to  them— Dr.  Beman,  Dr.  Peters  and 
ChVistian  Spectator— Charges  against  Board  of  Missions— Attempt  to 
destroy  it— Disorder  in  the  Assembly— Convention  of  Western  Synods- 
Board  of  Education  re-animated— Dr.  J.  Breckinridge—Foreign  Mis- 
sions—Am. Board— Mr.  J.  Breckinridge's  paper— Dr.  J.  H.  Rice  s 
overture— Committee  of  Conference— Western  Missionary  Society- 
Popish  baptisms— Dr.  Alexander's  Opinion- Committee  discharged— 
Dr.  M.'s  opinion— Subsequent  decision— Doctrinal  differences— 191-200. 
—2.  After  the  Assembly .—^Vv.  and  Mrs.  Breckinridge— Letter  to  Mr. 
Beatty-  State  of  Church— Anniversary  of  Am.  Board— Dr.  M.'s  paper 
rejected— Letter  to  Mr.  Swift:  Western  Missionary  Soc— Diary : 
Prayer-  Temperance:  Resolutions— Letter  to  Am.  Home  Missionary 
Soc— Spruce  St.  Lecture— Sermon :  Gospel  Truth— Annual  of  Board  of 

Education Messrs.  Pinney  and  Barr — Sermon  on  Death  of  Mr.  Barr— 

Letter  to  Mr.  Swift— To  Mr.  Nettleton— 200-214.— 3.  The  General  As- 
semhbi  of  1832.— N.  School  majority— Elective  affinity  presbytery- 
Contumacy  of  Synod— 215.— 4.  Death  of  Edward  ^liUington  Mdler.— 
Graduation— Study  of  Law— Illness— Consumption— Flattering  hopes— 
Hemorrliage— Religious  exercises— Letter  to  Edward— Last  night— 
Death-bed— Letter  to  Miss  Sergeant— Funeral— Dr.  Hodge's  sermon— 
Extract-216-221.  191-221. 

CHAPTER    THIRTY-FIRST. 

1833-1835. 

L.ABORS  Fruitless  and  Fruitful— 1.  Letters  to  Preshj/terians.—Let- 
ter  from  J.  W.  Alexander— To  Mr.  Nettleton— To  Dr.  Wisner— Letters  to 
Presbyterians— Burr's  answer— Diary  :  Methods  of  Labor— Dr.  Baird's 
comments— Parental  influence— Charitable  judgment— Letter  to  Mr. 
McElhenney  :  Self-defence— Voluntary  associations  and  church  boards 
-Subscription  to  Confession— Extract— Dr.  Beeclier  and  his  son- 
Elective  affinity— Revivals— New  Measures— Mr.  F.  S.  Mines— Extract 
—Presbyterian  order— Conciliation— 222-240.— 2.  Miscellaneous  Topics. 
—General  Assemblv  of   1833— Diary— Introductory  Essay  to  Essay  of 


CONTENTS.  Vii 

C.  Villers — Letter  toDr,  Plumer:  Christian  communion — Catechism  of 
Presbyterian  Government — Letter  to  Mr.  Swift — Diary — Presb.  Tract 
and  Book  Society — Diary — 240-245. — 3.  Correspondence. — N.  J.  Howard 
Society — Letter — Straits  of  the  Seminary — East  Windsor  TheoL  Insti- 
tute— Letter  to  Mr.  Nettleton — To  Mrs.  M. — Introductory  Essay  to  His- 
tory of  Popery — Controversy  with  Mr.  Carey — 245-248. — 4.  The  Gene- 
ral Assenibhj  of  1834. — Sermon  before  Board  of  Education — Extract 

New  School  majority — Decisive  measures — Security  for  error — The 
Western  Memorial — Rejection  and  censure — 248-251. — 5.  The  Act  and 
Testimony. — Old  School  Conference — Act  and  Testimony — Its  character 
— Biblical  Repertory — Valid  objections — Merits — The  Moderates — Ex- 
tract from  Dr.  Brown — Oratory — 251-254. — 6.  Presbytevianism  and  Bap- 
tism.— First  book  and  first  tract — Presbyterianism — Sermons  on  Baptism 
as  a  tract — Letter  to  Dr.  Engles — Extract  from  Dr.  Lorimer — Episcopal  re- 
sentment— Prof.  J.  A.  Alexander's  criticism — 255-258. — 7.  Miscellaneous 
Topics. — Letter  to  pupil — Funeral  sermon  for  Mr.  WoodhuU — Diary — 
258-260.—  222-200. 

CHAPTER   THIRTY-SECOND. 

1835,  1836. 


a 


Triumph  axd  Defeat. — 1.  General  Assemhhj  of  1835. — Dr.  M 
commissioner — Opening  sermon — Old  School  majority — Memorial  of 
Convention — Dr.  Miller's  report — Pieversal  of  former  decisions — Trans- 
fer from  West.  Miss.  Soc. — Party  votes — Mr.  Stewart's  speech — Dr.  J. 
Breckinridge  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology — Mr.  J.  A.  Alexander — 

Sermon  before  Alumni  of  Seminary — Extract — Slavery — 261-266. 2. 

Correspondence  and  Sermons. — Letter  from  Gov.  .J.  C.  Smith — To  jNIr. 
Nettleton — Two  Sermons  on  Domestic  Happiness — Trial  of  Dr.  Beecher 
— Dr.  Miller's  letter — Letter  to  Mr.  Nettleton — 266-271  — 3.  Mr.  Barnes. 
— Plan  of  conciliation — Agreement  of  Professors — Bib.  Repertory — Ex- 
tract— Mr.  Barnes's  Notes  on  Romans — Dr.  .Junkin  tables  charges — Er- 
rors of  Mr.  Barnes — Charges  dismissed — Appeal — Revision  of  Notes — 
Synod  reverses  the  decision — Suspension — Appeal — Mistakes  of  Synod 
— Letter  to  Mr.  Barnes — 271-279. — 4.  Correspondence. — Letter  to  Mr. 
Nettleton — To  Dr.  Magie — Correspondence  of  Mr.  Plumer  and  Dr. 
Beecher — 279-283. — 5.  Mr.  Barnes  in  the  Assembh/  of  1836. — Other  at- 
tempts to  discipline— Mr.  E.  Beecher,  Mr.  Sturdevant,  Mr.  Kirby,  Dr. 
L.  Beecher — Dr.  M.  a  commissioner — Mr.  Barnes's  explanations — De- 
fective forms — Appeal  sustained — Dr.  Miller's  resolution  rejected — Pro- 
tests and  Answer — 283-288. — 6.  Boards  and  Presbi/leries.—Hefusal  of 
transfer  from  Western  F.  M.  Soc. — Character  of  this  act — Interference 
of  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. — Attempt  upon  Board  of  (Domestic)  Missions — Resto- 
ration of  presbyteries — Old  School  conferences — Secret  conclaves — 
Committee  of  thirty — Return  from  Pittsburg — Illness  at  Uniontown — 
288-291.—  261-291. 

CHAPTER   THIRTY-THIRD. 

1836. 

Social    Reform. — 1.     Slaver?/. — Dr.    M.'s    report — Letter    from    Mr. 
Wltherspoon — From    Dr.    Hoge — Action    of    Assembly — Duty    of    the 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Church— Letter  to  Mr.  Burgess— Note  to  the  Catechism— Slaves. — 292- 

300. 2.     Temperance. — Temperance    Reforms — Two    Stages — Letter    to 

Mr.  Edwards:  Personal  experience — Endorsement — Perversion — Scru- 
pulous drinking— Efforts— Old  AVine— Dinner— Table  changes.— 300- 
305.-  292-305. 


CHAPTER   THIRTY-FOURTH. 

1836,  1837. 

Miscellaneous  Matters. — 1.  The  Biblical  Repertori/. — Five  articles 
— Christian  Union — Exti-act — Name  of  Christian  Sabbath — Extract — 
Toleration — Extract — Sermons — Extract — 30G-309. — 2.  A  Reminiscence. 
— By  a  lady — From  the  Presbyterian — 309-311. — 3.  3IisceUaneous  To- 
pics.— Reminiscences  of  Dr.  Nevins — Tliree  Sermons — Diary — Letter  to 
Dr.  Reed — 311-313. — 4.  Church  Troubles. — Tactics — Crisis — Despond- 
ency— Better  counsels — Rights  of  Assembly — Committee  of  Ten — Circu- 
lar and  Address — New  School  scandalized — Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick— Paper  adopted — Division  necessai-y — Conference  at  Princeton — 
Another  Seminary  planned — Division  prevented — Letter  to  Dr.  Elliott — 
313-319. — 5.  Publications  and  Correspondence. — "Plea  for  Voluntary  So- 
cieties"— Letter  to  N.  Y.  Observer — Extracts — Letters  to  Mr.  Nettleton — 
Meeting  at  Princeton — Life  of  Jonathan  Edwards — Extract  from  Dr. 
Sprague— 319-324.—  306-324. 


CHAPTER   THIRTY-FIFTH. 

1837,  1838. 

Church  Reform. — 1.  The  General  Assembly  of  1837. — Old  School 
Convention — Influence  of  Princeton — Old  School  and  New — Taylorism 
exposed — Preparatory  Convention — Testimony  and  Memorial — Old 
School  majority — Plan  of  Union  abrogated — Peaceable  division  attempted 
— Synod  of  Western  Reserve  exscinded — Reasons — Constitution  and 
Measures  of  this  Synod — Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee  dis- 
owned— Modified  reasons — Further  measures — Circular  by  Dr.  M. — 
Letter  from  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge — 325-332. — 2.  After  the  Assembh/. — 
Approval  of  Reform — Extract  from  Dr.  Sprague — Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick — Letter  to  Dr.  Sprague — Thirst  for  power — Letter  to  Watch- 
man of  the  South — To  Mrs.  Wales — Sermon  :  Dangers  of  R.  Catholic 
education — Review  in  Repertory — 332-335. — 3.  Foreign  Missions. — 
Board  of  F.  M. — Dr.  M.  chosen  President — Letter  to  Mr.  Lowrie — To 
Dr.  Green — Sermori  before  the  Board- — Extract — Rejoicing — 385-338. — 
4,  The  General  Assembly  0/1838. — New  School  plans — Old  School  majo- 
rity— Majority  proceeding — Minority  proceeding — Rule  of  organization 
— Preliminary  meetings — Assembling  in  Seventh  Church — Opening 
scenes — Mr.  Cleveland's  paper — Change  of  base — Another  organization 
— Decorum — De  minimis  non  curat  lex — Concealment — After  thoughts  and 
claims — New  School  minute  and  testimony — Dr.  M.  a  witness — Conflict 
ended— 338-347.—  325-347. 


CONTEXTS.  ix 

CHAPTER   THIRTY-SIXTH. 

1838,  1839. 

Chequered  Scenes. — 1.  Death  of  Mrs.  Breckinridge. — Last  years — 
Letter  from  Dr.  Alexander — Delicate  bealth — Illness — Varions  resorts — 
Letterto  Mrs.  B. — Death — Funeral — Dr,  Alexander's  Sermon — Memorial 
— Letters  of  a  Grandfather — Diary — o48-o52. — 2.  Fuhlications. — "  Micae 
Ecclesiastics  "  —  Extract  —  Repertory — Extracts — 352-ooG. — 3.  Corre- 
spondence and  Diary. — Letter  to  Judge  Nisbet — To  Dr.  Elliott — Centenary 
of  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick — Sermon — Diary — Letter  to  Son — To 
Mr.  Ledyard — Presbyterian  Chvirch  case — Verdict  aiXisi  Prius — Letters 
from  Mr.  Sergeant — Verdict  set  aside  by  Court  in  bank — Letters  to  son 
— oo6— 362. — 4.  Baptisms  a7id  Funerals. — Letter  to  Mr.  English — To  Mr. 
Huntington — To  Mr.  Monteith — Romish  baptisms — 3G2-3G7. — 5.  Cor- 
respondence and  Diary. — Letter  to  Am.  Board  :  Resignation — To  Dr. 
Nettleton— Diary— Letters  to  Son— 307-370.—  348-370. 

CHAPTER   THIRTY-SEVENTH. 
1839. 

General  Characteristics. — 1.  Dr.  Carnahan''s  Reminiscences. — 371- 
377. — 2.  Dr.  Cox's  Reminiscences. — o77-38L — 3.  Judye  FiehVs  Reminis- 
cences.— 381-384.— 4.  Miscellaneous  Reminiscences. — Dr.  Sprague — Person 
and  health — Care  of  health — Presence  of  mind — System — Bonus  dormitai 
Ilomerus — Something  on  the  anvil — "Sin,  debt  and  dirt'' — Economy 
and  liberality — Delicacy  of  honor — Humor — Anecdotes — Scene  in  Study 
— Dr.  Sprague's  general  estimate — Symmetry  and  finish — Not  a  genius 
— Guarded  toil — Freedom  from  affectation — Influence  without  intrigue 
— No  personal  enemies — Patience  and  forbearance — Humility — Extract 
from  Dr.  Sprague:  Christian  attainments — Temper — Extract  from  Dr. 
Boardman  :  Completeness,  piety,  benevolence — Dr.  Miller  and  Daniel 
AVebster— 384-397.—  371-397. 

CHAPTER   THIRTY -EIGHTH. 

1839. 

Professional  Characteristics. — 1.  The  Minister  of  the  Gospel. — 
Office  magnified — Love  of  preaching — Character  of  preaching — Visits  to 
neighboring  churches — Reminiscences  of  Mr.  Blythe — Reading  and 
extemporaneous  preaching — Letter  to  son — Incident  from  Dr.  Hall — 
Not  a  popular  preacher — Influence  in  judicatories — Admonishing  of 
faults — Certificates  from  foreign  churches — Catechizing  children — 
Church  fairs — Evidence  on  record — 398-402. — 2.  2'he  Professor. — De- 
partments— Catechisms — Letter  to  Prof.  Cogswell — Eccles.  Hist. — Mo- 
sheim — Translations — Letters  to  Prof.  Cogswell :  Ecclesiastical  History  : 
Church  government — Divine  right  of  Presbyterians— Composition  and 
Delivery  of  Sermons — Extract  from  Dr.  Halsey — Seminary  Conference — 
402-410. — 3.  Reminiscences  of  Pupils. — Dr.  Prime's — Mr,  Blythe's — Mr. 
Huntting's — Mr,  Loomis's — Dr.  Ward's — Mr,  De  Witt's — Other  pupils — 
Forms  of  speech— 411-410.-  398-410, 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   THIRTY-NINTH. 

1839-1844. 

Old  Age. — 1.  Christian  Education. — Presbyterian  Board  of  Publica- 
tion— Review  of  Griffin's  Sermons — Report  on  Christian  Education — 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  M.'s  zeal  for  education — Hope  for  little  children — Synod 
at  Wilkesbarre — Adventures — Report  on  Education — Discussion — Ma- 
ternal Association — Education  of  own  children — Support  of  authority — 
College  education — Bar  and  Counting-room — 417-423. — 2.  Correspond- 
ence and  Diary. — Letter  to  Mr.  Gilchrist — To  Mrs.  Ledyard — Memoir 
of  Dr.  Nisbet — Letter  from  Thomas  Sergeant — Diary:  Health — Diary: 
Mercies  in  his  pilgrimage — Diary:  Wedding-day — Diary:  Birth-day: 
health  :  unfruitfulness — Dr.  M.  as  a  husband — His  respect  for  the  fe- 
male sex — Letter  to  Dr.  Murray:  License  and  ordination. — 423-429. — 
3.  Later  Episcopal  Controversies. — Primitive  and  Apostolical  Order — • 
Occasion — Ceaseless  assaults — Southern  Churchman  and  "Pious 
Frauds  " — Dr.  Alexander — Sunday  School  Union  Dictionary — Letter 
from  Dr.  Alexander — Dr.  M.'s  "frauds" — Dr.  M.'s  letter — Tract  on 
Presbyterianism  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Weller — Dr.  M.'s  reply — Bishoj)  Ives 
and  the  Banner  of  the  Cross — Calvin  a  Prelatist — Dr.  M.'s  letter — His 
explanation — Continuation  of  the  controversy  —  Character  of  charge 
and  specimen  of  proofs — "Forbearance"  of  a  polemic — Prelatical 
tactics — Bishop  Polk — General  Assembly  on  Confirmation  :  Facts — Re- 
commendation of  Scott's  "Force  of  Truth" — "Layman's"  attack — 
Dr.  Miller's  reply — Episcopal  Recorder's  judgment — Alleged  self-con- 
tradiction concerning  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius — Parallel  extracts — 
Character  of  the  Epistles — Reconciliation  of  Dr.  M.'s  statements — 
Garbled  quotations — Charge  illustrated — 429-443. — 4.  Correspondence 
and  Diary. — Mrs.  M.'s  letter  to  Son — Letter  t^  Mr.  Murray — Diary — 
Letter  to  Mrs.  Ledyard — To  Board  of  Publication — Death  of  Dr.  J. 
Breckinridge — Diary — Letter  to  Mr.  Delavan — Diary — Letter  to  Mr. 
Murray — "Highest  authority" — Letter  from  Mr.  Sergeant — Diary — 
Humility — Plagiarism— Letter  to  Dr.  Hoyt — To  Mr.  Cassels — Diary — 
443-455. — 5.  Publications. — Articles  in  Presbyterian — Sermon  to  Ruling 
Elders — Extracts — Letters  to  Sons  in  College — Extract — 455-457. — 6. 
Correspondence  and  Diary. — Letter  to  Dr.  Plumer — To  son — Diary — 
Letter  from  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander — Letter  to  son — Dr.  Van  Rensselaer's 
agency  for  Seminary — Fortieth  Anniversary  of  X.  Y.  Hist.  Soc. — Letter 
to  Society — Recommendation  of  Bower's  Hist,  of  Popes — Letter  to  son 
— Illness — 457-4U2. —  417-4G2. 

CHAPTER   FORTIETH. 

Letter-Writixg. — Letter  of  Admonition — Endorsement — Student's 
premature  marriage — To  a  pastor  involved  in  controversy — Letter 
against  factious  minority  in  church — Drafts  upon  strength — Letter  to  a 
college  instructor  against  recommending  Bulwer's  novels — Diary: 
Letters  to  young  men — Letter  to  young  college  graduate:  Reasons  for 
writing:  Counsels:  To  continue  collegiate  studies:  To  be  a  public  be- 
nefactor: studying  the  Bible:  Daily  prayers:  systematic  Sabbath 
reading:  Keeping  the  Sabbath  holy — Letter  to  another  graduate: 
Reasons  for  writing:   Idleness:  A  profession. —  4G3-472. 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER    FORTY-FIRST. 

1845-1847. 

Failing  Strength. — Correspondence  and  Diary. — Diary  :  Health — 
New  Jersey  Historical  Society:  Formation:  Letter  to  Dr.  McLean: 
Address  before  the  Society:  Paper  read — Opinion  of  American  Tract 
Society — Letters  on  the  Monthly  Concert — Letter  to  Son:  Pastor  not  a 
sojourner — Recommendation  of  Dr.  Janeway's  "Internal  Evidence  " — 
Letter  to  Dr.  Dickson:  Examination  of  candidates — To  Dr.  Boardnian  : 
Private  communion — Caldwell  Monument  Address — Letter  to  Dr.  Mur- 
ray— To  Prof.  J.  Alden  :  Puritans  and  Cromwell — Diary  :  Death  of  Miss 
Sergeant — Letter  to  Mr.  Harris:  Discipline — Diary:  "Wedding-day: 
Birth-day — Letter  to  Dr.  Lacy:  ^loderator's  power:  Postponement  of 
judicatory — To  Directors,  for  relief — To  Mr.  Sturges:  Congregational 
practices — Centennial  Anniversary  of  College — Toasts — Letter  to  son — 
Reception  of  Episcopal  minister — Correspondence  with  Chancellor 
Kent — Letter  from  Mr.  W.  Kent — Excursions  for  health — Letter  to  son — 
To  daughter — Readiness  to  assist — Letter  to  Dr.  Tustin:  "Spectral  H- 
lusions  " — LL.  D. — Diary:  Eulogy  of  Mrs.  M. — Diary:  Health — Resig- 
nation of  Professorship — Withdrawn  :  Letter  to  son — To  Dr.  T.  L.  Jane- 
way.—  473-500. 


CHAPTER   FORTY-SECOND. 

1848,  1849. 

Labour  and  Sorrow. — 1.  In  Weakness,  yet  Toiling. — Decline — Diary — 
Labours — Clericus,  on  Dancing — Letter  to  Mr.  White — Reminiscences 
of  Dr.  Green — Extract — Diary:  Harmony  among  professors — 501-503. — 
2.  The  Last  of  Authorship. — "Thoughts  on  Public  Prayer" — Bishop 
Hobart  and  the  Presbyterian  Directory  :  Preaching  and  Prayer — Dr. 
M.'s  Opinion:  Extract  —  Devotional  Composition — Reminiscences  of 
prayers — C.  J.  Kirkpatrick — Forms  of  reverence — Estimates  of  Dr.  M. 
as  an  author:  Dr.  Halsey:  Dr.  Boardman :  Dr.  Sprague :  Dr.  J.W.Al- 
exander— Grammar  and  Rhetoric — Manner  of  Writing — 503-510. — 3. 
Diary  and  Correspondence. — Labour  to  the  last — Diary — Letter  to  son — 
To  Cincinnati  "Society  of  Inquiry  " — To  association  of  ladies:  Boards 
and  voluntary  societies — 510-512 — 4.  The  Aged  Colleagues. — Letter  to 
Dr.  Boardman — Indebtedness  to  colleagues — From  Dr.  Boardman — Ex- 
tract from  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander — Confirmation  of  it — Another  Extract — 
Dr.  M.'s  views  of  "  Begging  "' — 512-515. — 5.  Resignation. — Letter  to  Di- 
rectors— To  Dr.  Dana — To  son — Part  of  Salary  returned— ^Resolutions 
of  General  Assembly — Letter  to  Dr.  Plumer — 515-518. — G.  3Iiscellaneous 
Topics. — Formula  for  adult  baptism — Bounty  of  the  Church — Infirmi- 
ties— End  of  toil  approaching — Ebbing  tide — Exercise — Centenary  of 
University  of  Pennsylvania — Letter  to  committee — To  niece — 518-523. — 
7.  The  Last  Sermon. — Dutch  Neck — Mr.  Ely's  account — Letter  to  son — 
523-525. — 8.  Last  Labours  Abroad  and  at  Home. — Action  of  Directors 
about  salary — Last  lectures — Last  call — Family  gathering — Last  coun- 
sels— Letter  to  Alumni  of  University  of  Pennsylvania — Toasts — 525- 
529.—  501-529. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    FORTY-THIRD. 

1849,  1850-1861. 

The  Last  of  Earth. — 1.  Nxinc  Dimittis. — Dr.  Murray's  last  interview 
— Dr.  J,  W.  Alexander's  inauguration — Interview  with  Dr.  M. — Extract 
from  inaugural  discourse — Dr.  Sprague's  last  interview — Dr.  J.  W. 
Alexander  to  Dr.  Hall — Margaret  E.  Breckinridge — Resignation  of 
College  Trusteeship — Letter  lo  Trustees — Nothing  to  do  but  to  die — 
530-538. — 2.  Death  Bed. — Awaking  out  of  sleep — "Not  my  mantle!" — 
Dr.  A.  Alexander's  last  visit — The  end — Notices  of  his  death  from  Dr. 
J.  VV.  and  Dr.  A.  Alexander — 538-541. — 3.  In  Memoriam. — Dr.  Hodge's 
remark — Minute  of  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia — Funeral — Account  by 
Irenteus — Extract  from  Dr.  Sprague — From  J.  AV.  Alexander — From 
Dr.  Alexander's  funeral  sermon — Letter  from  Dr.  Cox — From  Dr. 
Woods — Commemorative  discourses  by  Dr.  Sprague  and  Dr.  Boardman 
— Resolutions  of  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  of  N.  Y.  Hist.  Society, 
and  Am.  Whig  Society — Of  the  General  Assembly — Extract  from  Sy- 
nod's narrative — Will — Extract  from  Dr.  Hodge — Fiftieth  anniversary 
of  Seminary — Dr.  Sprague's  discourse — Resolution  of  Alumni — Epitaph 
— 541-548. — Last  Years  of  3Irs.  Miller. — Her  Death. — Sorrowful  yet  re- 
joicing— Death  of  Hon.  John  Sergeant — Decline — Death — Funeral — 
549,  550.—  530-550. 


LIFE 


OF 


SAMUEL  MILLER,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


FA.IIT    THIRD. 

PRINCETON. 

1813-1850. 


CHAPTER    TWENTY-FOURTH. 

FIRST  YEARS   IN   THE   PROFESSORSHIP. 

1813-1820. 


1.  New  Scenes  and  Duties. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  portions  of  Dr.  Miller's 
diary  is  that  in  which  he  records  his  removal  to  Princeton, 
and  his  resolutions  upon  entering  on  his  duties  as  profes- 
sor in  the  Seminary.  A  large  part  of  the  subsequent 
history  of  his  life  was  but  a  development  of  the  ideas  of 
this  paper ;  which,  when  first  it  fell  under  the  eyes  of  sur- 
vivors, seemed  rather  to  recount,  than  to  anticipate,  thirty 
six  years  of  academical  labor. 

'December  3d,  1813.  This  day  I  arrived  in  Princeton,  to 
enter  on  the  discharge  of  my  duties,  as  Professor  of  Ecclesias- 
tical History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  *  * 

'I  feel   that,  in   coming   hither,  I  am  entering  on  a  most 
weighty  and   important   charge.     At   this   solemn  juncture  I 
OL.  II.— 2. 

9 


10  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.  [CII.  24.  1. 

have  adopted  the  following  Resolutions,  which  I  pray  that  I 
may  have  grace  given  me  fiaithfiilly  to  keep. 

*  I.  Resolved,  that  I  will  endeavor  hereafter,  by  God's  help, 
to  remember  more  deeply  and  solemnly  than  I  have  ever  yet 
done,  that  I  am  not  my  oim,  but  Christ's  servant ;  and,  of 
course,  bound  to  seek,  not  my  own  things,  but  the  things  which 
are  Jesus  Christ's. 

'  II.  Resolved,  that  I  will  endeavor,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to 
set  such  an  example  before  the  candidates  for  the  ministry 
committed  to  my  care,  as  shall  convince  them,  that,  though  I 
esteem  theological  knowledge  and  all  its  auxiliary  branches  of 
science  very  highly,  1  esteem  genuine  and  deep  piety  as  a  still 
more  vital  and  important  qualification. 

'III.  Resolved,  that  I  will  endeavor,  by  the  grace,  of  God, 
so  to  conduct  myself  toward  my  colleague  in  the  seminary,  as 
never  to  give  the  least  reasonable  ground  of  offence.  It  shall 
be  my  aim,  by  divine  help,  ever  to  treat  him  with  the  most 
scrupulous  respect  and  delicacy,  and  never  to  wound  his  feel- 
ings, if  I  know  how  to  avoid  it. 

'  IV.  And,  whereas,  during  my  residence  in  IS  ew  York,  a 
very  painful  part  of  my  trouble  arose  from  disagreement  and 
collision  with  a  colleague,  I  desire  to  set  a  double  guard  on 
myself  in  regard  to  this  point.  Resolved,  therefore,  that,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  while  I  will  carefully  avoid  giving  offence  to 
my  colleague,  I  will,  in  no  case,  take  offhice  at  his  treatment  of 
me.  I  have  come  hither  resolving,  that  whatever  may  he  the 
sacrifice  of  my  ^^ersonal  /eeZm^s— ^.whatever  may  be  the  conse- 
quence— I  will  not  take  offence,  unless  I  am  called  upon  to  re- 
linquish truth  or  duty.  I  not  only  will  never,  the  Lord  help- 
ing me,  indulge  a  jealous,  envious,  or  suspicious  temper  toward 
him ;  but  I  will,  in  oio  case,  allovf  myself  to  be  wounded  by 
any  slight,  or  appearance  of  disrespect  I  will  give  up  all  my 
own  claims,  rather  than  let  the  cause  of  Christ  suffer  by  ani- 
mosity or  contest.  What  am  I,  that  I  should  prefer  my  own 
honor  or  exaltation  to  the  cause  of  my  blessed  Master  ? 

'  V.  Resolved,  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  will  not  merge 
my  ofHce  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  in  that  of  professor.  I 
will  still  preach  as  often  as  my  Master  gives  me  opportunity 
and  strength.  I  am  persuaded  that  no  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
to  whatever  office  he  may  be  called,  ought  to  give  up  preach- 
ing. He  owes  it  to  his  ordination  vows,  to  his  office,  to  his 
Master,  to  the  Church  of  God,  to  his  own  character,  to  the 
benefit  of  his  own  soul,  to  go  on  preaching  to  his  last  hour. 
Lord,  give  me  grace  to  act  on  this  principle ! 
.    '  VI.  Resolved,  that,  as  indulgence  in  jesting  and  levity  is 


1813.]  XEW    SCENES    AND    DUTIES.  11 

one  of  my  besetting  sins,  I  will  endeavor,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
to  set  a  double  guard  on  this  point.  The  example  of  a  profes- 
sor before  a  body  of  theological  students,  in  regard  to  such  a 
matter,  is  all  important. 

'  YII.  Where  so  many  clergymen  are  collected  in  one  village, 
clerical  character  is  apt  to  become  cheap ;  and  it  seems  to  me, 
that  a  peculiar  guard  ought  to  be  set,  by  each  one,  to  prevent 
this,  by  a  careful,  dignified,  and  sacredly  holy  example. 
Resolved,  that  I  will  endeavor,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  exercise 
special  and  prayerful  attention  to  this  matter. 

In  anotlier  connexion,  and  long  afterwards,  Dr.  Miller 
wrote, 

'On  coming  to  Princeton,  in  1813,  I  resolved  to  begin  a  new 
course  in  regard  to  Politics.  I  determined  to  do  and  say  as 
little  on  the  subject  as  could  be  deemed  consistent  with  the 
character  of  a  good  citizen  : — to  attend  no  political  meetings  ; 
to  write  no  political  jDaragraphs  ;  to  avoid  talking  on  the  sub- 
ject much  either  in  public  or  private ;  to  do  little  more  than  to 
go  quietly  and  silently  to  the  polls,  deposit  my  vote,  and  with- 
draw; and,  in  the  pulpit,  never  to  allow  myself,  either  in 
prayer  or  preaching,  to  utter  a  syllable  from  which  it  might  be 
conjectured  on  which  side  of  the  party  politics  of  the  day  I 
stood.  True,  indeed,  on  great  national  questions,  such  as  arose 
at  the  commencement  of  our  Revolutionary  War,  the  clergy 
ought  publicly  and  openly  to  take  a  side,  as  they  generally  did 
on  that  occasion — the  Presbyterian  clergy  almost  unanimously 
on  the  side  of  the  Colonies.  Still,  I  have  no  doubt  that,  even 
then,  many  of  the  ministers  devoted  themselves  to  Politics, 
both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  to  an  extent,  and  in  a  manner, 
which  were  by  no  means  dictated  by  the  soundest  evangelical 
wisdom.' 

Dr.  Miller's  uniform  attention  to  the  duty  of  voting  has 
been  already  mentioned.  To  the  close  of  his  life  he  always, 
when  it  was  possible,  appeared  seasonably  at  the  polls, 
which  he  approached  scarcely  looking  to  the  right  hand  or 
to  the  left,  called  out  clearly  and  emphatically  his  own 
name — '  Samuel  Miller' — though  everybody  knew  it,  de- 
posited his  ballot,  and  then,  in  the  same  way,  Avith  seldom 
another  word,  or  at  most  only  a  quiet  salutation  to  ac- 
quaintances, retired  from  the  scene.  lie  certainly  never 
lost  respect  or  influence,  as  either  a  man  or  a  Christian 
minister,  by  this  course:  on  the  contrary,  when,  in  after 
life,  his  familiar  form  and  features,  his  head  venerable  with 


12  FIRST  YEARS  IX  THE  PROFESSORSHIP,    [cil.  24.  1. 

earlj  and  later  frosts,  was  seen  approaching,  the  crowd, 
however  excited,  kindly  opened  the  way  for  him,  and  testi- 
fied, by  at  least  a  momentary  hushed  stillness,  that  his 
Christian  patriotism  and  conscientiousness  were  never 
doubted.  He  was  decidedly  and  consistently,  as  long  as 
the  writer  can  remember  him,  what  would  now  be  called 
"an  old-line  Whig." 

Writing  to  the  Rev.  James  Richards,^  December  27th, 
after  speaking  of  the  journey  to  Princeton — in  a  heavy 
stage  as  far  as  New  Brunswick  ;  thence,  on  account  of  the 
bad  roads,  in  a  lighter  vehicle,  with  a  supplemental  farm 
wagon  for  the  weightier  baggage — Dr.  Miller  says, 

'  Our  accommodations  here  are  full  as  comfortable  as  we 
expected,  and  even  more  so.  And  I  have  also  the  happiness  to 
add,  that  the  aspect  of  our  seminary  is  more  favorable  than  I 
calculated  to  find  it,  when  I  left  New  York. 

'  I  am  glad  to  hear  of  the  exertions  of  your  pious  ladies. 
We  stand  in  need  of  all  the  aid  we  can  obtain ;  and  I  cannot 
but  hope,  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  has  much  mercy 
in  store  for  us,  and  that  he  will  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  his 
people  to  give  our  institution  ample  support.  Unless,  however, 
more  numerous,  active,  and  efficient  friends  are  raised  up  than 
have  hitherto  appeared,  it  must  languish. 

'  *  *  I  know  it  will  give  you  pleasure  to  be  told  that  the 
most  perfect  harmony  and  cordiality  reign  between  him  [Dr. 
Alexander]  and  myself;  that  the  number  of  our  pupils  is 
twenty-four ;  that  they  generally  discover  an  excellent  spirit ; 
that  my  health  is  gradually  improving ;  that  my  labors  here 
prove  more  pleasant  than  I  had  ventured  to  anticipate ;  that 
my  Sarah  seems  happy  in  Princeton;  and  that  the  general 
aspect  of  things  is  promising.' 

To  aid  the  Seminary,  and  the  great  cause  of  ministerial 
education,  for  the  promotion  of  which  it  had  been  estab- 
lished, societies  were  formed,  especially  by  females,  in  many 
parts  of  the  Church.  Some  of  these  were  designed  simply 
to  raise  money,  by  stated  contributions  from  the  members 
and  otherwise,  for  the  institution  itself;  others  to  raise 
money  in  like  manner  to  support  wholly,  or  in  part,  indi- 
vidual needy  students ;  others  to  provide  clothing  for  the 
same  class.  Altogether,  these  societies  performed,  espe- 
cially during  the  infant  years  of  the  Seminary,  and  its 

1  D.D.  from  1815.     See  4  Spragnc's  Annals,  99. 


1813.]  NEW    SCENES    AND    DUTIES.  13 

earlier  strugo;les,  a  most  important  work.  Many  Toung 
men  were,  humanly  speaking,  brought  into  the  ministry, 
by  such  comparatively  humble  efforts ;  and  the  faith,  and 
prayer,  and  zeal  which  these  very  efforts  engendered  were 
of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  Church. 

Dr.  Miller  had  rented  a  dwelling  in  Princeton,  with  the 
design  of  going  at  once  to  house-keeping ;  but,  for  various 
reasons,  he  engaged  board  and  lodging,  upon  his  arrival, 
with  Mrs.  Ten  Eyck,  at  the  north-eastern  extreme  of  the 
village,  and  remained  with  her  until  some  time  in  the  ensu- 
ing spring.  Then  he  took  possession  of  the  rented  house, 
which  stood  on  the  site  of  one  yet  standing,  afterwards 
erected  and  occupied  by  Robert  Voorhees,  Esquire.  But 
very  soon  he  determined,  if  indeed  he  had  not  decided  pre- 
viously, to  build  a  dwelling  for  himself.  A  written  con- 
tract for  its  erection  was  duly  executed  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1814.  This  instrument,  still  extant  in  Dr.  Miller's  hand- 
writing, was  not  more  precise  than  a  theological  professor 
might  be  expected  to  make  it ;  and  although  the  contractor 
was  to  forfeit  five  hundred  dollars,  unless  the  house  were 
completed  by  the  first  of  April,  1815,  the  usual  expedient 
of  "extras"  enabled  him  to  extend  the  time,  elude  the 
penalty,  and  add  a  considerable  amount  to  the  stipulated 
cost.  It  seems  to  have  required  a  new  roof,  within  a  year, 
or  thereabout ! 

Dr.  Alexander's  residence,  the  house  subsequently  occu- 
pied by  Francis  Janvier,  Esquire,  was  nearly  opposite  to 
Dr.  Miller's  new  dwelling,  which  was  the  first  building 
erected  in  connection  with  the  Theological  Seminary.  The 
main  edifice  of  the  institution,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
in  length,  fifty  in  breadth,  and  four  stories  high,  designed 
for  recitation  and  library  rooms,  students'  lodging  rooms, 
a  refectory,  and  apartments  for  the  steward's  family,  was 
the  next  erection,  and  was  not  ready  for  occupation  until 
the  autumn  of  1817,  when  about  half  of  its  interior  was 
finished.  Until  this  time,  the  professor's  studies  had  been 
the  recitation  rooms ;  the  students  had  found  board  and 
lodging  where  they  could ;  and  instructors  and  pupils  had 
been  brought  into  a  very  close  and  profitable  intimacy, 
Meanwhile  the  latter  had  gradually  increased  in  number  to 
about  thirty. 


14  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  2. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1815,  when  the  corner-stone 
of  the  Seminary  edifice  was  laid,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, the  trustees  of  the  College,  who  happened  to  be  as- 
sembled for  business,  and  were  invited  to  witness  the  cere- 
mony, went  in  procession  to  the  place. 

Dr.  Miller,  as  we  have  seen,  was  ever  warmly  attached 
to  his  native  State ;  yet,  when  settled  in  New  York,  and 
expecting  there  to  spend  his  life,  he  became,  in  feeling  and 
interest,   a  thorough  New  Yorker ;  even  proposing,  as  a 
favorite  literary  project,  to  write  a  history  of  the  State  of 
his  adoption.     So  too,  on  removing  to  Princeton,  his  new 
citizenship  sat  so  naturally  upon  him,  that  no  one  would 
have  supposed  he  was  not  a  Jerseyman  by  birth.     For  the 
interests  of  New  Jersey  he  felt  as  lively  a  concern,  as  he 
could  well  have  felt  for  those  of  Delaware  or  New  York. 
This  was  owing  to  the  continued  freshness  and  ever  ready 
flow  of  his  affections ;  prompting  him  to  enter  everywhere 
into  the  proper  feelings  of  the  place,  the  occasion,  and  the 
circumstances ;  and  to  his  habit  of  regarding   the  whole 
Union  as  his  countrv,  and  State  lines  as  of  subordinate  im- 
portance.     To   theories  of  State   rights   and   emotions  of 
State  pride  he  seldom  gave  much  countenance.     If  Dela- 
wareans  and  Jerseymen  may  be  thought  to  be  little  tempted 
in  this  respect,  they  have,  at  least,  the  greater  reason  to 
be  thankful  for  rot  having  been  led  into  temptation,  and 
for  being  freer,  on  that  account,  than  some  others,  to  cul- 
tivate an  enlightened  feeling  of  cosmopolitanism,  and  that 
love  for  the  whole  country,  which  should  -be  nurtured  and 
strengthened,  not  restricted  and  weakened,  by  State  love. 
Just  as  home  should  be  the  training  place,  not  the  whole 
and  ultimate,  or  even  the  chief,  field  of  natural  affection  ; 
so   the   State   should  be  the  school,   not   the  theatre,    of 
patriotism. 

2.     Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller. 

Speaking  of  the  Divine  Spirit's  influence  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Theological  Seminary,  Dr.  Boardman  says, 

"His  benign  agency  is  especially  to  be  recognized  in  the  se- 
lection of  the  original  Professors.  Upon  them  would  depend 
mainly,  under  Providence,  not  only  the  character  of  this  Semi- 
narv,  but  the  character  of  future  Seminaries  to  be  established 


1813.]  DR.  ALEXANDER  AND  DR.  MILLER.  15 

in  other  parts  of  the  Church,  and,  indeed,  the  character  of  our 
entire  ministry  as  a  body.  Our  Church  can  never  be  suffi- 
ciently grateful^  to  God,  that  he  so  ordered  events  as  to  place 
the  Institution  in  the  hands  of  two  men  who  were  preeminently 
qualified  for  this  very  responsible  trust ;  nor  have  we  less  cause 
for  gratitude  in  the  remarkable  fact  that  they  were  spared  to 
administer  its  affairs  for  so  many  years."^ 

The  biographer  of  Dr.  Alexander  says, 

"Dr.  Miller  brought  with  him  a  high  reputation  as  a  preacher, 
an  author,  and  a  Christian  gentleman.  He  was  about  three 
years^  older  than  his  colleague,  being  accordingly  in  his  prime 
of  mental  and  bodily  vigour.  His  name  was  widely  known 
from  his  "  Retrospeci  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  and  more  re- 
cently from  his  defence  of  presbytery  against  the  attacks  of 
Doctors  Hobart  and  Bowdeu.  For  many  years  he  had  main- 
tained his  post,  with  honour  and  esteem,  in  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  New  York.     *     ^^ 

"In  many  particulai^s  they  [Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller] 
were  dissimilar ;  iudeed  two  men  of  genuine  piety  could  scarcely 
be  found  more  unlike.  Dr.  Miller  came  from  the  training  of 
city  life,  and  from  an  eminently  polished  and  literary  circle. 
Of  fine  person  and  courtly  manners,  he  set  a  high  value  on  all 
that  makes  society  dignified  and  attractive.  He  was  preemi- 
nently a  man  of  system  and  method,  governing  himself,  even 
in  the  minutest  particulars,  by  exact  rule.  His  daily  exercise 
was  measured  to  the  moment ;  and  for  half  a  century  he  wrote 
standing.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  though  as 
easy  as  he  was  noble  in  his  bearing ;  full  of  conversation,  bril- 
liant in  company,  rich  in  anecdote  and  universally  admired. 
As  a  preacher  he  was  clear  without  brilliancy,  accustomed  to 
laborious  and  critical  preparation,  relying  little  on  the  excite- 
ment of  the  occasion,  but  rapid  with  his  pen,  and  gifted  with  a 
tenacious  memory  and  a  strong,  sonorous  voice;  always  in- 
structive, always  calm,  always  accurate. 

"His  colleague  had  received  a  lasting  impress,  in  manners 
and  labours,  from  a  very  different  class  of  influences.^  The  in- 
ward principle  of  delicacy  and  refinement,  the  soul  of  true  po- 
liteness, we  think  we  may  assert,  was  within  him  in  high  mea- 
sure.    Perhaps   no  man  ever  more  respected  the  feelings  of 

1  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Dr.  Miller,  12,  13. 

2  Not  quite  two  and  a  half,  having  been  born  the  Kth  of  April,  1T72. 

•'Dr.  Alexander  had  been  settled  between  five  and  six  years  only  in  Phila- 
delphia, Dr.  Miller  about  twenty  in  New  York  ;  but  probably  the  habits,  man- 
ners and  general  mould  of  both,  as  in  regard  to  the  latter  has  been  before  sug- 
gested, had  been  in  a  great  measure  formed  euduringly,  before  their  city  pasto- 
rates onmmenced. 


16-  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSOllSHIP.    [CH.  24.  2. 

others.  But  he  was  not  a  man  of  rules.  Eminent  natural 
simplicity  was  his  characteristic.  If  this  led  him  to  be  careless 
or  abrupt,  at  any  time,  he  cared  not  for  the  inelegance,  even 
when  he  grieved  over  any  occasional  offence.  His  studies  and 
his  way  of  life  were  singularly  free  from  all  constraint  and 
plan.  ^.  *  Never  did  he  seem  more  at  a  loss  than  when  called 
upon  to  lay  down  regulations  for  the  hours,  the  employments, 
or  the  behaviour  of  others.  Perfect  liberty,  as  to  time,  pursuits, 
and  even  bodily  movements,  was  almost  his  passion.  *  ^  In 
the  pulpit,  he  was  most  himself  when  he  was  most  truly  extem- 
poraneous ;  which  perhaps  was  in  the  mind  of  the  learned  Chief 
Justice  Kirkpatrick,  when  he  said,  with  a  jocose  eulogy,  "Dr. 
Alexander  is  the  prince  of  Methodist  preachers.""^ 

After  Dr.  Alexander  had  been  but  a  few  months  in 
Princeton,  he  instituted,  for  the  Seminary  students  and  all 
who  chose  to  attend,  a  Sabbath  evening  service  at  his  own 
house,  though  soon,  for  want  of  room  there,  he  was  obliged 
to  transfer  it  to  an  apartment  in  one  of  the  College  edifices. 
Of  this  service  Mrs.  Miller  has  left  the  following  reminis- 
cences : — 

'  One  of  the  most  interesting  positions  in  which  Dr.  Alexan- 
der s  presented  to  my  memory  is  that  in  which  he  frequently 
appeared,  when  I  was  first  a  resident  in  Princeton,  in  1813-14, 
and  when  he  had  been  there  himself  only  a  few  months.  The 
church  may  be  said  to  have  been  in  his  house.  '^  *  a  stagnant 
spirit  rested  upon  even  professors  of  religion.  With  all  the 
embarrassments  of  a  new  situation,  he  began  a  little  weekly 
meeting  ^  *  which,  from  a  few  at  first,  gathered  in,  from  time" 
to  time,  numbers  sufficient  to  make  it  an  object  of  feeling  and 
conversation  throughout  the  village.  Few  persons  were  more 
calculated  to  do  good  in  such  an  effort ;  *  "^^  and  from  that 
time,  I  think,  a  peculiar  religious  work  began  in  Princeton, 
which,  though  very  small  in  the  beginning,  evidently  grew 
until  we  were  partakers,  pretty  largely,  in  the  Sj^irit  of  revival 
which  had  been  given,  for  several  years,  to  various  parts  of  our 
land.     Both  the  College  and  the  town  long  felt  the  influence.' 

In  the  services  thus  described,  Dr.  Miller,  to  some  ex- 
tent, assisted  his  colleague;  and  though  it  might  have  been 
expected  that  the  duties  of  his  professorship  would  draw 
him  away  from  the  pulpit,  if  indeed  any  pulpit  should  be 
open  to  him,  he  appears  to  have  preached,  for  some  time 
after  his  arrival  in  Princeton,  if  not  oftener  than  he  did  as 

1  ]')K  .",80,  1,  2, 


1813.]  BR.    ALEXANDER   AND    DR.    MILLER.  17 

a  pastor  in  New  York,  at  least  quite  as  often.  To  the  end 
of  life  he  retained  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  his 
earlier  delivery,  though  with  -a  gradual  abatement  of  anima- 
tion and  force  ;  and  he  always  had  frequent  opportunities, 
which  he  delighted  to  improve,  of  preaching  the  Gospel. 

Until  tlie  beginning  of  the  year  1826,  the  professors  of 
the  Seminary,  with  their  families  and  students,  the  students 
occupying  the  gallery,  worshipped  in  the  College  Hall, 
every  Sabbath  morning,  taking  turns  with  the  President 
and  professors  of  the  College  in  conducting  the  services. 
Dr.  Alexander's  service  already  mentioned,  and  a  service 
in  the  village  church,  divided  at  first  the  attendance  in  the 
evening ;  but,  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  the  former 
was  abandoned,  and  all  attended  upon  the  latter,  in  which 
also  the  professors  of  the  Seminary  took  a  more  or  less 
regular  part.  With  the  beginning  of  1826,  a  Sabbath 
morning  service  was  commenced  in  the  Seminary  "  Orato- 
ry," the  professors  preaching  in  turn,  and  their  families 
partly  attending  there,  partly  in  the  village  church.  In 
1834,  this  service  was  transferred  to  the  new  Seminary 
chapel,  where  accommodations  had  been  provided  for  all 
the  families  connected  with  the  institution ;  and  here, 
thenceforth,  all  statedly  worshipped  in  the  forenooi^.  The 
only  organized  churches,  however,  from  first  to  last,  were 
those  of  the  village — originally,  and  for  a  long  time,  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  alone ;  where,  in  the  evening  of 
the  Lord's  day,  with  the  temporary  exception  already  ad- 
verted to,  the  worshippers  from  both  Seminary  and  College 
attended  divine  service.  But  to  the  end,  Dr.  Miller,  with 
his  colleagues,  was  very  frequently  called  upon  to  preach 
out  of  regular  course,  both  in  Princeton  and  in  neighboring 
churches.  Thus,  taking  at  random  the  year  1835,  we  find 
from  his  'Record  of  Preaching,'  that  he  preached  sixty- 
seven  times,  besides  making  a  number  of  sacramental, 
monthly  concert,  temperance,  and  other  addresses. 

The  first  3^ears  of  Dr.  Miller's  life  in  Princeton  present 
little  varied  incident,  little  that  is  suited  to  biographical 
detail.  They  were  years,  necessarily,  of  laborious  study 
in  the  line  of  his  professorship,  and  earnest  attention  to  all 
its  new,  untried  duties.     Dr.  Boardman  remarks, 

"  He  had  displayed  a  ripe  scholarship,  a  minute  acquaint- 


18  FIRST   YEARS  IN   THE    PROFESSORSHIP.  [CH.  24.  3. 

ance  with  the  annals  of  the  early  Church,  and  a  capacity  to 
vindicate  the  primitive  form  of  ecclesiastical  government, 
which  clearly  indicated  him  as  a  suitable  Professor  for  the  new 
Institution.  He  did  not  disappoint  the  hopes  of  the  Church. 
The  office  to  which  he  was  called  was  one  of  weighty  responsi- 
bility. The  difficulty  of  meeting  its  requisitions  would  be  great 
under  the  most  advantageous  circumstances ;  but  in  his  case  it 
was  materially  enhanced  by  the  novelty  of  his  position.  No 
one  had  preceded  him.  He  was  not  only  to  traverse  the  forest, 
but  to  break  the  path.  Even  an  incompetent  precursor  would 
have  lightened  his  task  ;  but  the  entire  burden  of  collecting, 
digesting,  and  arranging  authorities,  and  framing  a  curriculum 
for  his  department,  as  well  as  filling  it  up,  was  devolved  upon 
himself.  He  was  without  the  assistance  to  be  derived  from 
suitable  text  books — indeed  to  this  day  there  is  no  adequate 
text  book  in  Ecclesia&tical  History.  Enterhig  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  under  these  and  other  serious  embarrass- 
ments, it  is  impossible  to  withhold  a  tribute  of  admiration  for 
the  ability,  wisdom,  and  energy  he  displayed  in  the  prosecu-- 
tion  of  his  work."^ 

Dr.  Miller  was  received  into  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick,  upon  certificate  from  that  of  New  York,  at 
Princeton,  on  the  26.th  of  April,  1814. 

•  3.     Correspondence. 

The  following  letter  w^as  written  to  Dr.  Green  on  the 
28th  of  February,  1814:— 

*  Rev'd  and  dear  Brother, 

*  Hearing  you  say,  this  morning,  that  Mrs.  Green 
took  some  claret  with  apparent  benefit,  and  being  desirous  of 
contributing  to  her  comfort  by  every  means  in  our  power,  it  has 
occurred  to  us  that  a  bottle  or  two  of  good  quality  might  not  be 
unacceptable.  Happening  to  have  a  little  of  a  parcel  that  was 
considered  sound  and  excellent,  we  beg  your  acceptance  of  the 
bottles  herewith  sent.  If  they  should  he  found  useful,  we  have 
two  or  three  more  at  your  disposal. 

'  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  with  earnest  wishes  for  the  comfort  and 
speedy  recovery  of  Mrs.  Green,  in  which  my  wife  and  sister 
join,  ,^   '  Your  affectionate  brother, 

'  Sam'l  Miller.^    ] 

*To  Col.  William  Duane,  Editor  of  the  Aurora,  a  warm 
political  newspaper  printed  in  Philadelphia. 

'  Tribute  to  the  Memary  of  Dr.  Miller,  18,  19. 


1815.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  19 

'Sir,  "  Princeton,  December  26,  1815. 

'  The  design  of  this  letter  is  to  request,  that  you  will  cease 
sending  me  the  Countrij  Aurora  after  the  31st  instant. 

*  As  my  political  feelings  have  been  gratified  by  the  perusal 
of  your  paper,  and  would  still  dispose  me  to  take  it ;  and  as 
the  very  handsome  manner  in  which  you  have  lately  spoken  of 
my  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John  Sergeant,  has  certainly  not  been 
unpleasant  to  me ;  perhaps  I  owe  it  both  to  you  and  to  myself 
to  state  my  reason  for  discontinuing  my  subscription.  It  is 
simply  and  solely  this.  The  cause  of  '^ Bible  Societies  "  and  of 
"vital  religion,'^  which  your  Gazette  has  so  frequently  ridiculed, 
and  so  studiously  stigmatized,  especially  for  near  twelve  months 
past,  is  a  cause  very  dear  to  my  heart,  and  very  important,  in 
my  opinion,  to  the  best  interests  of  mankind.  I  can  no  longer 
consent  to  encourage  a  publication,  which  appears  to  me  hostile 
to  objects  worthy  of  the  highest  veneration.  If  it  be,  as  you 
suggest,  that  some  distinguished  individuals,  both  in  Europe 
and  America,  who  profess  to  be  zealous  friends  of  these  objects, 
give  too  much  reason  to  suspect  that  they  have  other  and  most 
detestable  designs  in  view,  it  is  to  be  deeply  lamented ;  but  I 
do  not  know  that  this  ought  to  render  "  Bible  Societies "  or 
"  vital  religion  "  less  precious  in  my  eyes.  Some  of  the  warmest 
and  ablest  advocates  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  both  in  our 
own  country  and  in  Europe,  appear  to  me  to  be  unprincipled 
men.  But  it  never  occurred  to  me  that  I  ought  to  love  the 
great  and  good  cause  which  they  profess  to  support,  in  any  de- 
gree the  less  on  account  of  their  inconsistency.  If  such  men, 
by  their  publications,  or  exertions,  become  instrumental  in  pro- 
moting the  prevalence  of  correct  jirinciples  or  practice,  I  feel 
bound  to  be  thankful  for  their  aid,  while  I  abhor  or  despise 
their  character. 

'I  write  this.  Sir,  with  a  mind  altogether  free  from  personal 
animosity.  If  it  should  be  the  means  of  diminishing  your 
hatred,  or  if  that  should  remain  the  same,  your  jniblic  abuse,  of 
institutions  very  dear  to  my  heart,  I  shall  be  cordially  grati- 
fied ;  and  it  will  give  me  real  pleasure  again  to  take  the  Aurora, 
whenever  I  can  perceive  that  it  may  come  into  my  family, 
without  my  children  being  liable  to  see,  in  every  page  of  a 
paper  countenanced  by  their  father,  those  objects,  which  he 
professes  to  love  and  promote,  held  up  to  ridicule  and  scorn. 

'  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 
\  '  Samuel  Miller.' 

'  P.  S.  I  scarcely  need  inform  you  that  this  letter  is  intended 
merely  as  a  jirivate  communication.' 

The  real,  clearly  defensible,  and  very  important   princi- 


20  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CII.  24.  3. 

pies  of  the  foregoing  letter,  never  more  opportune  or  widely 
applicable  than  at  present,  seem  to  deserve  here  particular 
notice.  1.  Whatever  a  publication  may  be  in  political 
character  and  principles,  if  its  influence  be  unfavorable  to 
''  vital  religion,"  Christians  should  unhesitatingly  withdraw 
from  it  their  patronage.  Religious  interests  are  of  infinitely 
higher  moment  than  mere  political,  or  any  other  interests. 
All  who  help  to  support  such  a  publication  are  partakers 
in  its  sins.  2.  Though  a  man  may  suppose  himself  in  no 
danger  of  contamination  and  injury  from  such  a  source,  he 
cannot  be  insensible  to  the  danger  of  his  family,  and  of 
others,  whom  his  example  might  lead  to  become  readers  of 
a  work  hostile  to  Christianity.  3.  A  jealous  watch  must 
be  kept  over  all  the  reading  of  the  youth  under  our  control 
or  influence,  if  we  would  not  have  our  moral  and  religious 
teachings  effectually  counteracted  and  nullified ;  and  over 
the  issues  of  the  periodical  press,  so  numerous,  so  diffusive, 
so  all  penetrating  and  prevading,  so  attractive,  and  so  in- 
sidious often,  as  they  are,  should  a  special  jealousy  be 
exercised.  4.  The  artifice  of  opposing  and  ridiculing  re- 
ligion itself,  under  the  pretext  of  only  condemning  ^its 
inconsistent,  hypocritical  professors  and  advocates,  is  too 
transparent  to  deceive  aught  but  wilful  blindness. 

With  the  Rev.  John  H.  Rice,^  of  Richmond,  Dr.  Miller 
w^as  permitted  to  form  an  intimacy  which  he  always  sin- 
cerely prized.  To  this  a  number  of  letters,  which  will  be 
presented  in  the  sequel,  bear  ample  testimony.  On  the 
28th  of  December,  1815,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  him, 

*  I  received  your  letter  of  the  23d  instant,  yesterday,  with 
much  pleasure.  Not  that  I  was  glad  of  the  disagreeable  facts 
which  it  related ;  but  it  gratified  me  to  find,  that  I  was  not 
forgotten  by  you.  Though  I  am  one  of  the  most  miserable  cor- 
respondents in  the  world,  it  gives  me  great  and  peculiar  pleasure 
to  hear  from  valued  friends,  and  such  is  the  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Richmond. 

*  The  General  Assembly,  two  years  ago,  appointed  me  their 
historiographer,  and  directed  all  the  materials  for  the  history 
of  our  church,  which  had  been  collected  by  their  order, 
to  be  put  into  my  hands.  This,  however,  has  not  yet 
been  done ;  they  are  all  still  in  Philadelphia ;  so  that  I 
have  not  a  single  paper  or  document  of  the  Assembly  in  my 

1  D.D.  from  1819.  Sec  Maxwell's  Memoir  of  Dr.  Who,  and  4  Sr)ra2uc's 
Anna!?,  825. 


1815.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  21 

possession,  and  am  not  able  to  help  you,  in  the  least  degree,  on 
the  subject  concerning  which  you  write;  except  by  making  some 
general  statements,  and  giving  some  general  assurances,  which 
I  am  perfectly  confident  are  correct. 

'From  my  life  of  Dr.  Rodgers,  (published  near  three  years 
ago,  and  which  you  have  probably  seen,)  you  perceive  that  I 
have  paid  some  attention  to  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States.  From  my  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  thus  acquired,  I  feel  confident  in  asserting — 

'I.  That  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  has 
repeatedly  been  a  jyersecuted,  but  in  no  single  instance,  a  perse- 
cuting, sect.  They  were  persecuted  in  the  most  distressing 
manner,  in  Virginia  and  New  York,  (as  you  learn  from  my 
life  of  Dr.  Rodgers,)  and  in  several  other  states,  prior  to  the 
Revolution ;  but  never  have  they  been  chargeable  with  en- 
croaching on  the  rights  of  other  denominations,  or  so  much  as 
attempting  to  bear  hard  on  them.  I  should  feel  perfectly  con- 
fident in  defying  any  man  or  body  of  men,  to  produce  a  single 
example  which  had  any  such  aspect. 

'II.  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  is  so 
far  from  being  a  sectarian  body,  that  I  verily  doubt  whether 
there  ever  was  on  earth  a  body  of  Christians  so  extensive,  and 
that  included  so  much  talent  and  wealth,  that  took  so  little 
pains  to  make  proselytes,  or  that  was  so  strangely  negligent  of 
all  those  arts,  and  cautions,  and  exertions,  by  which  most  other 
societies  have  endeavored,  and  are  endeavoring,  to  build  them- 
selves up.  They  have,  in  no  instance  that  I  am  acquainted 
with,  ever  commenced  attacks  on  other  denominations;  and  when 
'  attacked,  have  been  rather  slow  and  reluctant,  than  forward, 
to  defend  themselves.  When  they  have  distributed  books,  they 
have,  in  almost  all  cases,  been  of  such  a  general  and  practical 
nature,  as  had  no  sectarian  tendency.  In  fact  the  forbearance 
and  liberality  of  our  church,  in  this  respect,  has  been  thought 
by  many  of  its  members  to  he  excessive,  and  worthyof  blame  ; 
and  is  certainly,  as  I  believe,  without  a  parallel  in  the  history 
of  American  churches. 

'III.  The  Presbyterian  Church,  in  this  country,  has  been 
uniformly  friendly  to  civil  and  religious  liberty.  The  conduct 
of  their  clergy  and  people,  during  the  Revolutionary  contest, 
is  well  known  and  highly  honorable  to  them.  And,  to  the  best 
of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  the  same  character  has  been  dis- 
played by  them,  under  all  circumstances,  and  at  all  periods, 
since.  Xor  has  this  fact  been  confined  to  America.  It  has 
been  manifested  in  Geneva  and  Holland.  And  Mr.  Hume 
bears  decided  attestation  to  it,  when  he  says,  that "  The  precious 
Vol.  II.— 3. 


22  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  3. 

sparks  of  liberty  were  kindled  and  preserved  by  the  Puritans 
in  England ;  and  that  to  this  sect,  whose  principles  appear  so 
frivolous,  and  whose  habits  so  ridiculous,  the  English  owe  the 
whole  freedom  of  their  constitution." 

*  IV.  The  Presbyterian  Church  has  never  manifested  the 
smallest  disposition  towards  an  establishment,  or  any  peculiar 
claims  or  immunities  in  its  favor.  I  have  never  heard  of  any 
judicatory  of  our  church,  greater  or  smaller,  or  of  any  individual 
clergyman  or  member,  who  has  shown  any  disposition  of  this 
kind.  And  I  am  perfectly  persuaded  that  no  such  instance,  or 
anything  that  looks  that  way,  can  be  produced.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  Presbyterians  were  the  principal,  and  the  successful, 
opponents  of  the  introduction  of  an  American  Episcopate,  on 
account  of  its  tendency  to  interfere  with  religious  liberty;  (as 
you  will  find  in  my  life  of  Dr.  Podgers,  pp.  186,  etc.;)  and 
they  were  also  the  most  influential  opponents  of  a  religious 
establishment,  which  was  proposed  to  be  incorporated  with  the 
first  constitution  of  South  Carolina.     *     "^ ' 

In  1816,  it  was  in  contemplation  to  establish,  upon  the* 
basis  of  Dartmouth  College,  a  complete  university.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  C.  Searle,  an  alumnus  of  the  Princeton 
Seminary,  writing  to  Dr.  Miller  from  '  Dartmouth  Univer- 
sity, August  29,'  said, 

*  They  have  done  me  the  honor  to  propose  an  appointment 
of  Professor  of  Languages.  It  is,  of  course,  an  anxious  inquiry 
with  me,  w^ho  are  to  be  my  associates,  and  who  my  head.  The 
great  object  of  all  the  gentlemen  now  is  to  find  a  general  Head 
of  the  University.  Those  who  are  active  bave  pressed  me  to 
do  what  my  own  inclination  dictated ;  viz.,  to  venture  a  ques- 
tion, confidentially,  to  yourself,  whether  in  any  circumstances 
and  with  any  encouragement,  you  could  consent  to  be  the  head 
of  this  institution,  and  unite,  more  than  any  other  could,  the 
hearts  of  all.  That  the  dearest  interests  of  religion  are  at 
stake  is  already  known  to  you  as  my  poor  opinion.  That,  if 
properly  occupied,  this  post  offers  a  wide  field  of  commanding 
influence  is  on  all  hands  admitted.  "^  *  It  is  the  uniform 
wish  of  all  the  friends  of  Dartmouth  University,  that  you 
should  be  its  head.' 

To  this  letter  Dr.  Miller  replied  as  follows : — 

'My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  September  7, 1816. 

'Your  letter  of  August  29th  reached  me  on  Thursday 
last.  I  have  heard  much  of  the  revolution  in  Dartmouth 
University,  and,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  have  taken  a 


181G.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  23 

deep  interest  in  the  situation  and  prospects  of  a  seminary  so 
long  dear  to  the  friends  of  science  and  religion. 

'  The  intimation  which  you  give  me  of  the  wishes  entertained 
by  the  trustees  of  this  important  institution  is  as  unexpected 
as  it  is  flattering.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  express  the  sentiments 
of  profound  respect  and  gratitude  with  which  this  testimony 
of  confidence  has  impressed  my  mind.  In  such  a  case,  I  have 
always  considered  reserve  as  improper ;  and  shall,  therefore, 
answer  the  question  which  you  convey  to  me  in  the  same  spirit 
of  direct  undisguised  frankness  with  w^iich  it  is  asked. 

'When  I  consented  to  remove  from  my  pastoral  charge  in 
New  York  to  the  station  which  I  now  occupy,  it  was  under  a 
full  conviction,  that  the  office  of  professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  our  Church  was  better  adapted  to  my  particular 
taste  and  habits,  and  would  be  likely  to  aftbrd  me  an  opportu- 
nity of  more  extensive  usefulness,  than  any  other  within  my 
knowledge.  This  is  still  my  undiminished  conviction ;  and,  of 
course,  while  this  conviction  remains,  I  could  not  conscien- 
tiously abandon  my  present  place,  for  the  presidency  of  any 
university,  or  college,  in  the  United  States. 

'I  am,  therefore,  my  dear  Sir,  after  serious  and  mature  de- 
liberation, constrained  to  say,  that  even  if  the  trustees  of 
Dartmouth  University  were  to  do  me  the  honor  to  give  me  a 
unanimous  and  affectionate  call  to  the  presidency  of  that  insti- 
tution, and  were  to  connect  with  the  acceptance  of  it  every 
emolument  and  accommodation  that  heart  could  wish,  I  should 
still  deem  it  most  clearly  and  decisively  my  duty  to  decline 
accepting  it. 

'While  I  thus  explicitly  recpiest,  that  my  name  may  be 
removed  from  the  list  of  candidates  for  this  responsible  and 
honorable  place,  I  pray  that  the  Author  of  all  wisdom  may 
direct  the  venerable  Board  of  Trustees  to  a  more  worthy  object 
of  choice ;  and  render  the  important  seat  of  science,  of  which 
they  are  the  guardians,  a  richer  blessing  than  ever  to  our  be- 
loved country  and  to  the  Church  of  God. 

'With  respectful  and  grateful  salutations  to  such  of  the 
fi-iends  of  Dartmouth  University  as  may  have  thought  favora- 
bly of  me  for  its  head  ;  and  with  the  best  wishes  for  your  per- 
sonal welfare  and  happiness,  I  am,  dear  Sir,  with  great  regard, 
'  Your  affectionate  friend  and  brother, 

'Rev.  Thomas  C.  Searle.  Samuel  Miller.' 

4.     Miscellaneous  Topics. 
In  1816,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Y.  How  fulfilled  the  in- 
tention,  announced   in   his   preliminary  work   of  1808,  of 


24  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CII.  24.  4. 

examining  more  thorougly  Dr.,  Miller's  Letters  on  Episco- 
pacy. As  the  reason  for  a  temporary  abandonment  of  his 
plan,  he  gives  the  appearance  of  "  so  full  a  refutation" 
from  Dr.  Bowden's  pen ;  and  as  the  reason  for  resuming  it, 
Dr.  Miller's  renewal  of  the  "  attack  ;"  by  "publishing,  in 
1811,  a  sermon  on  the  subject  of  lay  elders ;  and,  in  1813, 
a  Life  of  Dr.  Rodgers  ;  both  of  v/hich  contain  matter," 
he  adds,  "  which  the  sincere  Episcopalian  must  regard,  not 
only  as  inaccurate  in  itself,  but  as  very  pernicious  in  its 
tendency."^  To  this  work,  entitled  "A  Vindication  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  and  addressed  to  Dr. 
Miller,  he  made  no  reply.  Indeed,  in  the  close  of  his 
second  volume  of  letters,^  he  had  fully  declared  his  inten- 
tion to  lay  down  his  pen,  and  give  his  opponents,  if  they 
claimed  it,  the  last  word. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1816  had  appointed  Drs. 
Romeyn,  Alexander  and  Miller  a  committee  to  revis-e  the 
Forms  of  Government  and  Discipline,  and  the  Directory 
for  Worship.  In  fulfilling  this  duty,  Dr.  Miller,  though 
not  the  chairman,  took  a  very  prominent  part.  In  1819, 
the  committee  reported  forms  which  were  sent  down  for 
revision  to  the  presbyteries.  These  were  to  return  their 
suggestions  to  Dr.  Miller,  who  was  authorized  to  have  the 
necessary  number  of  copies  of  the  report  printed.  In 
1820,  a  report  amended  according  to  the  suggestions  made, 
w^as  presented  to  the  Assembly;  by  that  body  carefully 
considered  and  still  further  amended ;  then  sent  down  for 
final  action  to  the  presbyteries,  which,  by  a  considerable 
majority,  gave  it  their  approval.  The  Assembly  of  1821 
ratified  the  decision  of  the  presbyteries ;  and  ordered  the 
printing  of  the  whole  constitution  thus  amended,  Avhich 
has  not  been  since  materially  altered. 

Dr.  Miller's  duties  in  the  Seminary  were  not  so  all-ab- 
sorbing, that  he  lost  his  interest  in  other  institutions  for 
the  advancement  of  learning.  In  1816,  a  committee,  of 
which  he  was  chairman,  was  appointed  by  the  Synod  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  to  consider  and  report  upon  an 
overture  for  the  establishment  of  an  African  School,  for 
the  education  of  candidates  for  the  ministry.  The  school 
was  resolved  upon,  and  a  Board  of  Directors  appointed,  at 

'  Vindication,  390.  2  p.  4.31^ 


1817.]  MISCELLAXEOUS   TOPICS.  25 

the  same  sessions.  The  next  year  two  scholars  were  re- 
ported as  under  tuition  with  the  Rev.  John  Ford  of  Par- 
sippany.  Funds  had  been  raised  to  the  amount  of  $825. 
The  Synod's  narrative  of  religion,  in  1818,  represents  the 
school,  with  three  pupils,  as  in  a  prosperous  state,  and 
promising  to  be  eventually  a  great  blessing.  In  1819,  the 
number  under  instruction  had  increased  to  seven ;  and  for 
several  years  it  was  a  very  important  business  with  Synod 
to  provide  for  the  interests  of  this  institution.  The  pro- 
posal to  establish  the  school  is  said  to  have  come  from 
"that  remarkable  servant  of  God,  Samuel  J.  Mills." 

Negotiations  entered  into  with  the  Synods  of  Philadel- 
phia and  Albany,  in  1818,  designed  to  secure  their  coope- 
ration in  the  support  and  management  of  this  school,  led 
to  a  new  outbreak  of  the  Hopkinsian  controversy.  The 
formula  of  subscription,  already  noticed^  as  prescribed  for 
professors  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  had  been,  from  the 
first,  as  too  stringent  in  their  estimation,  distasteful  to 
those  called  Hopkinsian s  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  now  proposed  that  the  same  formula 
should  be  subscribed  by  every  theological  teacher  in  the 
African  School.  This  was  warmly  opposed  by  Dr.  Griffin, 
Dr.  Spring  and  others  ;  and  from  the  judicatories  of  the 
Church,  the  controversy  came  out  into  more  public  notice 
through  the  press.  Finally,  the  Philadelphia  proposition 
was  rejected.^  The  same  party  which  opposed,  thus  suc- 
cessfully, the  application  of  the  "New  Test,"  as  they 
called  it,  to  the  African  School,  were  considered  lukewarm, 
if  not,  as  some  of  them  undoubtedly  were,  actually  hostile, 
to  the  Theological  Seminary.  This,  of  course,  gave  addi- 
tional importance  to  the  controversy. 

Early  in  the  year  1817,  Dr.  Miller  sent,  with  a  letter,  to 
the  Rev.  Thomas  McCrie,  D.D.,  of  Edinburgh,  author  of 

1  See  Vol.  L,  pp.  856-7. 

-  Indebtedness  should  here  be  acknowledged,  for  a  portion  of  this  account 
of  the  African  School,  to  the  lately  published  "  History  of  the  New  School,"  by 
the  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Baird.  D.I).  To  that  work,  as  also  to  his  "History  of  the 
Early  Policy  of  the  Presbyterian  Churoh  in  the  Training  of  her  Ministry, 
etc.,''  further  reference  may  hereafter  be  male.  They  are  very  valuable  contri- 
butions to  our  Church  Annals,  and,  on  this  account,  and  for  the  sake  of  what 
may  yet  be  expected,  in  the  same  line  of  investigation,  from  their  accomplished 
author,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  query,  whether  he  has  not  fallen  somewhat  into 
the  "Xew  School  error"  of  claiming  to  judge  the  heart ;  and  does  not  lack 
.somewhat  of  that  calm  impartiality,  so  essential  i  i  a  historian  :  fntm  a  mere 
liiographer  not  quite  so  much  i-  expecte  1. 


26  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  4. 

the  "Life  of  JoIid  Knox,"  a  copy  of  the  two  volumes  of  his 
"Letters  concerning  the  Constitution  and  Order  of  the 
Christian  Ministry."  From  L>r.  McCrie's  acknowledg- 
ment, the  following  passages  are  taken. 

'Nothing  could  have  given  me  greater  pleasure  than  your 
esteemed  letter,  with  which  I  w^as  favored  a  few  weeks  ago. 
For  several  years  I  have  desired  your  correspondence,  and 
would  have  solicit?  d  that  honor,  but  from  a  strong  and  culpa- 
ble aversion  to  letter-writing,  which  I  have  suftered  myself  to 
contract,  which  has  often  led  me  to  suspend  my  intercourse 
with  those  whose  friendship  I  esteem,  and,  consequently,  dis- 
courages me  from  forming  new  intimacies.  If  there  is  an  indi- 
vidual across  the  Atlantic  t^  whom  I  could  promise  to  act  a 
different  part,  I  can  sincerely  say  it  is  Doctor  Miller,  provided 
he  shall  be  so  kind  as  to  stimulate  my  indolent  temper  by  the 
continuance  of  his  correspondence. 

'  Accept  of  my  warmest  thanks  for  the  valued  present  of  the 
two  volumes  of  your  work  on  the  Episcopal  controversy.  From 
w^hat  you  know  of  my  sentiments  and  turn  of  reading,  you  can 
scarcely  doubt  of  their  giving  me  great  pleasure.  The  charac- 
ter which  I  had  heard  of  them  made  m,e  anxious  to  possess  the 
work,  but  the  copy  which  you  have  sent  is  the  first  one  I  had 
seen.  Urgent  engagements  have,  as  yet,  prevented  me  from 
reading  it  w^ith  care,  but  I  could  not  refrain  from  gratifying  my 
curiosity  by  running  through  it;  and  the  cursory  glance  that  I 
have  taken  at  it  is  sufficient  to  convince  me  of  its  merits.  As 
far  as  I  am  yet  entitled  to  judge,  it  is  perspicuous  and  popular, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  accurate  and  argumentative;  and  the 
author  has  shown  himself  as  superior  to  his  opponents  in  good 
temper  and  good  manners,  as  in  extensive  acquaintance  with 
the  subject.  I  rejoice  that  the  cause  has  found  so  able  an  ad- 
vocate. I  rejoice  that,  in  America,  there  are  men  of  talents 
and  piety,  so  deeply  imbued  with  the  Presbyterian  spirit,  and 
so  thoroughly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  importance  as  w^ell 
as  the  verity  of  Presbyterian  principles.  And  I  rejoice  that  a 
person  of  this  description  now  fills  the  important  situation  of 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States.  And  I  hope  that,  while  he  continues  to  display 
a  candid  and  a  liberal  spirit  to  Christians  of  a  different  persua- 
sion, he  will  show  the  same  firmness  which  he  has  already 
shewn,  in  maintaining,  both  practically  and  argumentatively, 
the  integrity  of  the  principles  of  his  own  church ;  and  guard 
those  under  his  care  against  agreeing  rashly  to  strip  themselves 
of  their  most  lionorable  and  vahiable   di^itinctions,  that   they 


1817.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  27 

may  pursue  the  phantom   of  an    undefined   and    undefinable 
Catholicism.' 

Dr.  Miller  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1817,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  its  action,  when,  for 
the  first  time,  the  "New  Divinity,"  under  the  name  of 
Hopkinsianism,  was  arraigned  before  that  body.  The 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  by  resolution,  and  in  its  pastoral 
letter,Miad  pointedly  condemned  "Arian,  Socinian,  Arrain- 
ian,  and  Hopkinsian  heresies,"  and  exhorted  its  presby- 
teries to  take  vigorous  measures  for  their  exclusion  and 
suppression.  Of  the  committee  appointed  to  examine  the 
Synod's  records.  Dr.  Miller  was  chairman,  and  probably 
drew — beyond  doubt  approved — the  report  which  was 
adopted,  but  was  earnestly  protested  against  by  twelve 
members  of  the  Assembly.  As  to  certain  parts  of  the  pas- 
toral letter,  and  a  resolution,  "which  enjoins  on  the  several 
presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synod  to  call  to  an  account 
all  such  ministers  as  may  be  suspected  to  embrace  any  of 
the  opinions  usually  called  Hopkinsian,"  the  Assembly  ad- 
judges, "that  while  they  commend  the  zeal  of  the  Synod  in 
endeavoring  to  promote  a  strict  conformity  to  our  public 
standards,  a  conformity  which  can  not  but  be  viewed  as  of 
vital  importance  to  the  purity  and  prosperity  of  the 
church,"  they  "regret  that  zeal  on  this  subject  should  be 
manifested  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  offensive  to  other  de- 
nominations, and  especially  to  introduce  a  spirit  of  jealousy 
and  suspicion  against  ministers  in  good  standing,  which  is 
calculated  to  disturb  the  peace  and  harmony  of  our  ecclesi- 
astical judicatories.  And  whereas  a  passage  in  the  pasto- 
ral letter  above  referred  to  appears  capable  of  being 
construed  as  expressing  an  opinioii  unfavorable  to  revivals 
of  religion,  the  Assembly  would  only  observe,  that  they 
cannot  believe  that  that  venerable  Synod  could  have  in- 
tended to  express  such  an  opinion."-  Probably  this  last 
sentence  was  a  hypercriticism,  but  it  exemplifies  the  sen- 
sitiveness on  the  subject  of  revivals,  which  has  marked  so 
many  of  the  controversies  that  have  agitated  the  Presby- 
terian Church. 

That  the  earlier  years  of  Dr.  Miller's  professorial  labors 
were  years  of  earnest  and  almost  undivided  attention  to 

J  See  Min.  of  Gen.  Ass.  (17S9— 1S20.)  C,:,'>.  C.  -  M.  C,:>:\. 


28  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  4. 

Seminary  duties  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that,  for  so  long 
a  time,  his  strong  inclination  to  authorship  was  held  so 
completely  in  check.  From  the  date  of  his  Sketch  of  his 
brother  Edward's  life,  until  1820, — about  six  years, — he 
published  literally  nothing  but  a  brief  Sketch  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary;^  and,  excepting  his  "Letters  on  Unita- 
rianism,"  and  "Letters  on  the  Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ," 
which  were  in  a  manner  forced  from  him  in  1821  and  1822, 
he  gave  to  the  press  only  a  few  sermons  and  lectures,  with  a 
pamphlet  "Letter  to  a  Gentleman  of  Baltimore,"  before 
1827,  when  his  "Letters  on  Clerical  Manners  and  Habits" 
appeared.  In  almost  any  circumstances,  the  duties  of  a 
professor's  chair  must,  at  the  outset,  be  very  burdensome  ; 
but  they  were  particularly  so,  as  already  suggested,  in  the 
state  of  theological  literature  at  that  time,  and  for  the 
pioneers  of  theological  seminary  training  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  this  country. 

Dr.  Miller's  sister,  Mrs.  McLane,  died  on  the  29th  of 
October,  1817,  and  was  committed  to  the  grave  in  Phila- 
delphia. Soon  after  his  return  from  the  funeral,  we 
find  him  writing  to  his  niece,  Miss  Patten,  'You  can 
readily  imagine  some  of  the  reflections  which  must  have  oc- 
cupied my  mind  with  the  remembrance,  that  I  was  the  last 
survivor  of  my  father's  children.'  'It  seems  to  me  as  if 
another  barrier  were  taken  away  between  me  and  the  grave; 
and  as  if  I  were  approaching  that  narrow  house  with,  more 
rapidity  than -ever.'  Colonel  McLane  had  died  about  four 
years  previously — on  the  29th  of  August,  1813. 

Dr.  Miller's  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  Colleore  was 
scarcely  less  than  for  that  of  the  Seminary;  and  as  the 
aftairs  of  the  former  were  almost  as  much  under  his  eye, 
yet  not  so  much  under  his  control,  as  those  of  the  latter,,  it 
was  extremely  difficult  to  be  at  once  faithful  and  delicately 
reserved  in  fulfiUinn-  the  duties  of  a  Collesie  trustee  and  of 
a  friend  to  Dr.  Green.     The  latter,  in  his  diary,  on  the  10th 

^  "Sketch  of  the  Rise,  Progress  and  Present  State  of  the  Theological  Semi- 
nai\Y  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  To  which  is  sub- 
joined a  Copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Seminary.  Published  by  order  of  the 
Board  of  Directors,  1817.'' — 8vo.  Pp.  19.  An  enlarged  edition  was  published 
in  1838 — "A  Brief  History  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey ;  together  with  its  Constitution,  By-Laws, 
etc." — 8vo.  Pp.  45. — This  History  was  republisheJ  in  the  10th  volume  of  the 
Am.  Quarterly  Regi'^ter,  pp.  ."^1,  etc. 


1818.]  REMINISCENCES.  29 

of  August,  1818,  says,  "Dr.  Miller  made  a  communication 
to  me  in  reojard  to  the  state  of  the  College  which  alarmed 
and  affected  me  mnch."^  Dr.  Green  also  mentions,  without 
fixing  any  date,  that  "there  was  an  agreement  with  the 
professors  and  students  of  the  Seminary  to  pray  daily,  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  not  only  for  *  *  a  revival 
with  us,  but  for  a  similar  one  in  all  the  colleges  of  our 
country."- 

5.     Reminiscences. 

The  Rev.  William  B.  Sprague,  D.D.,  so  long  pastor  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Albany,  kindly  pre- 
pared, after  Dr.  Miller's  death,  the  following  reminiscences. 
One  of  the  earlier  students  of  the  Seminary,  having  been 
matriculated  in  1816,  he  was  upon  terms  of  particular  in- 
timacy with  the  professors  ;  Dr.  Miller  followed  him  in  his 
subsequent  settlements  and  labors  with  affectionate  interest ; 
with  very  few  of  the  alumni  did  he  keep  up  so  frequent  a 
correspondence  as  with  him ;  and  certainly  none  of  them 
manifested  a  kinder  appreciation  of  Dr.  Miller  than  he — 
did  more  to  honor  him  while  he  lived,  or  has  done  more  to 
honor  him  since  his  death. 

^My  dear  Sir,  Albany,  March  1,  1853. 

'I  could  scarcely  have  been  asked  to  perform  a  service 
in  which  I  should  have  engaged  with  more  alacrity,  than 
in  writing  out  my  recollections  of  the  lamented  Dr.  Miller. 
Not  that  these  recollections  are  more  extended  than  those 
of  many  of  his  other  pupils,  or  that  I  had  better  opportu- 
nities than  many  others  for  observing  his  character ;  but  I 
am  sure  that  I  yield  to  no  one  of  them  in  affectionate  rev- 
erence for  him,  or  in  the  desire  to  honour  his  memory. 
From  the  first  interview  I  had  with  him  to  the  last  hour  of 
his  life,  I  always  felt  that  he  was  my  friend ;  and  I  came, 
at  lenojth,  to  regard  him  as  a  friend  whose  head  and  heart 
I  could  trust  with  as  little  reserve  as  I  ever  felt  in  respect 
to  any  human  being. 

Dr.  Miller  must,  I  think,  have  taken  rank,  at  a  very 
early  period,  among  the  most  distinguished  clergymen  of 
his  denomination,  or  indeed  of  any  other,  in  this  country, 

^  Life  of  Dr.  Green.  418.  a  Life.  431. 


30  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  O. 

Though  I  was  brought  up  in  a  retired  village  in  the  heart 
of  Connecticut,  where,  in  my  childhood,  I  used  to  know 
little  that  was  passing  beyond  our  own  neighborhood,  yet  I 
scarcely  remember  the  time,  when  Dr.  Miller's  name  was 
not  familiar  to  me,  or  when  I  was  not  accustomed  to  asso- 
ciate with  it  everything  good  and  venerable.  I  distinctly 
recollect  that  when  Dr.  Griffin  was  to  be  installed  in  Park 
street  church,  Boston,  in  1811,  it  was  currently  reported 
that  Dr.  Miller  was  to  preach  the  sermon — a  circumstance 
which  was  expected  to  give  great  additional  interest  to  the 
occasion ;  and  there  was  a  general  disappointment  felt, 
when  it  was  ascertained  that  he  could  not  be  there.  The 
first  time  I  saw  him  was  in  the  pulpit  of  Wall  street  church, 
a  few  weeks  before  he  resigned  his  charge  to  go  to  Prince- 
ton. I  was  then  a  member  of  the  Sophomore  class  in  Yale 
College,  and  had  gone  down  to  New  York,  with  a  view, 
specially,  to  pass  the  Sabbath,  and  listen  to  some  of  the 
distinguished  preachers  of  the  city.  Having  heard  Dr. 
Mason  in  the  morning,  I  went  to  hear  Dr.  Miller  at  three 
in  the  afternoon ;  and  the  moment  I  saw  him,  he  struck 
me  as  quite  a  model  of  a  man  in  his  external  appearance. 
When  he  began  to  speak  there  was  something  so  calm  and 
dignified,  so  bland,  and  gentle,  and  persuasive  in  his  whole 
manner,  that  I  was  quite  charmed  with  him ;  and  the  ser- 
vice throughout  was  of  such  a  character  as  not  only  to 
justify,  but  greatly  to  confirm,  my  first  impressions.  It 
was  a  beautiful  sermon  that  he  preached — perhaps  I  may 
say,  one  of  his  most  striking  sermons ;  for  I  well  remem- 
ber that  when  I  heard  him  preach  the  same  several  years 
after  in  the  church  at  Princeton,  it  had  lost  none  of  its  in- 
terest with  me  from  the  repetition. 

'  The  greater  part  of  the  year  that  succeeded  my  gradua- 
tion in  1815,  I  spent  in  the  neighborhood  of  Alexandria,. 
Virginia,  where  I  became  intimately  acquainted  with  that 
venerable  old  model  of  Christian  simplicity  and  goodness, 
Dr.  Muir.^  He  knew  Dr.  Miller  intimately,  and  no  man 
seemed  to  stand  higher  than  he  in  his  regards ;  and  when 
I  was  about  to  return  to  New  England,  as  I  expected  to 
pass  through  Princeton,  Dr.  Muir  gave  me  a  letter  whicli 
was  designed  to  procure  for  me  the  privilege  of  Dr.  Miller's 

^3  Sprague's  Annals,  516, 


1818.]  REMINISCENCES.  31 

acquaintance.  It  turned  out  that  I  was  unable  to  stop  at 
Princeton,  and,  of  course,  did  not  then  deliver  my  letter ; 
but  I  had  another  letter  to  Dr.  Romejn  of  New  York,  which 
I  did  deliver,  and  which  was  instrumental  of  determininor  me 
to  return  to  Princeton,  to  prosecute  my  theological  studies. 
It  was  at  the  close  of  the  fall  vacation  in  1816,  that  I  joined 
the  Seminary,  and  that  my  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Miller 
commenced.  On  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, I  called  at  his  study  to  deliver  my  introductory  let- 
ters, (for  I  had  one  from  Dr.  Romeyn  as  well  as  from  Dr. 
Muir,)  and  I  can  never  forget  the  courteous  and  yet  win- 
ning and  affectionate  manner  with  which  he  received  me. 
He  was  evidently  very  much  pressed  with  engagements,  but 
he  laid  aside  everything  and  sat  down  and  conversed  with 
me,  as  if  he  had  nothing  else  to  do ;  and  so  much  was  I 
impressed  by  his  urbanity  and  the  interest  which  he  mani- 
fested in  my  welfare,  that  I  left  the  room  congratulating 
myself  more  than  ever,  that  the  question,  at  what  seminary 
I  should  pursue  my  theological  studies,  had  been  decided 
in  favor  of  Princeton. 

'As  my  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Miller  increased,  my  re- 
spect and  affection  for  him  increased  also.  The  first  point 
at  which  he  came  in  contact  with  us  officially  was  in  the 
recitation  room.  As  the  Seminary  was  then  in  its  infancy, 
I  think  my  class  did  not  consist  originally  of  more  than  ten 
or  twelve ;  and  when  he  came  to  hear  our  recitations,  he 
seemed  like  a  father  sitting  in  the  midst  of  his  family.  As 
his  instructions  at  that  time  were  somewhat  elementary,  our 
recitations  cost  him  no  more  effort  than  the  readinn-  of  the 
Bible  in  his  family  devotions  would  have  done;  and  yet 
he  always  seemed  to  have  everything  at  hand  that  would 
illustrate,  in  any  degree,  the  subject  before  us ;  and  we  all 
felt  that  we  were  in  no  danger  of  meeting  with  difficulties 
which  he  was  not  abundantly  able  to  solve.  His  questions 
were  always  put  with  great  directness  and  clearness,  and 
were  generally  such  as  we  ought  to  have  been  able  to  an- 
swer ;  but  when,  as  sometimes  happened,  there  was,  on  the 
part  of  the  student,  hesitation  or  perhaps  absolute  ignorance, 
the  Doctor  would  always  manifest  the  most  considerate  re- 
gard for  his  feelings,  by  giving  the  question  a  different 
turn,  or  perhaps  asking  another,  or  else  by  making  some 


32  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CII.  24.  5. 

explanation  that  would  suggest  the  appropriate  answer.  It 
happened  to  our  class,  as  I  suppose  to  most  others,  that  we 
were  not  all  equally  bright ;  and  it  was  pretty  clear  that 
Dr.  Miller  was  himself  bright  enough  to  make  this  discovery; 
for  I  think  he  generally  took  care  to  put  the  heaviest  bur- 
dens on  those  who  were  best  able  to  bear  them. 

'A  large  part  of  the  instruction  which  Dr.  Miller  com- 
municated to  us  was,  of  course,  by  lectures.  And  here  I 
always  considered  him  admirable.  I  cannot  say,  that  he 
had  any  great  vivacity  of  manner,  or  that  he  was  given  to 
saying  brilliant  and  startling  things,  which  would  be  re- 
membered and  talked  about  afterwards ;  but  his  lectures 
were  i^markable  for  exhibiting  a  full,  clear  and  perfectly 
logical  view  of  his  subject.  He  had  none  of  that  miserable 
affectation  of  originality,  which  prefers  a  doubtful  path  to  a 
beaten  one,  and  which  is  never  satisfied  unless  it  is  follow- 
ing some  ignis  fatuus,  or  gazing  at  a  sky  rocket.  There 
was  such  perfect  continuity  of  thought  in  his  lectures, 
whether  he  read  them  or  delivered  them  extemporaneously, 
and  withal,  his  utterance  was  so  distinct  and  deliberate, 
that  it  required  nothing  more  than  an  ordinary  memory, 
especially  if  assisted  by  brief  notes,  to  retain  a  large  part 
of  what  it  would  take  him  an  hour  to  deliver. 

'  I  have  already  intimated  that  my  first  impressions  were 
greatly  in  favor  of  Dr.  Miller  as  a  preacher ;  and  I  never 
liked  him  less  after  his  preaching  became  familiar  to  me. 
He  used,  in  my  day,  to  preach  every  third  morning  in  the 
College  Hall ;  and  then  he  generally,  though  not  uniform- 
ly, had  his  discourse  lying  before  him.  He  preached  alter- 
nately with  Dr.  Alexander,  on  Sabbath  evening,  in  the 
village  church;  when  he  either  extemporized  or  preached 
memoriter,  or,  as  I  should  rather  think,  more  commonly  uni- 
ted the  two  modes.  I  believe  we  generally  listened  to  him 
with  more  pleasure  when  he  read  his  sermon  ;  for  the  style 
was  always  a  little  more  perfect ;  and  he  read  so  admirably, 
that  if  one's  eyes  had  been  turned  away  from  him,  he 
would  hardly  have  suspected  that  he  had  been  reading  at 
all.  His  voice  was  not  powerful,  nor  susceptible  of  very 
varied  intonations ;  but  it  was  exceedingly  bland  and 
agreeable  ;  his  gesture  was  not  abundant,  but  it  was  always 
correct  and  sometimes  highly  impressive  ;  his  attitudes  were 


1818.]  REMINISCENCES.  33 

manly  and  dignified ;  and  there  was  a  devout  and  rever- 
ential air  pervading  his  whole  manner,  that  was  altogether 
befitting  the  solemnities  of  religious  worship.  There  was 
nothing  that  could  be  called  specially  imposing  in  his  gen- 
eral style  of  delivery  ;  and  yet  1  have  heard  him  utter  single 
sentences  with  as  much  effect  as  almost  any  other  man.  I 
remember,  for  instance,  in  a  New  Year's  se'rmon  on  the 
text,  "  How  old  art  thou  ?"  he  related  the  anecdote  of  the 
Roman  Emperor,  reckoning  with  himself  every  evenino-  in 
regard  to  the  manner  in  which  he  had  spent  the  preceding 
day;  and  who,  when  on  one  occasion  he  found  that  the 
day  had  very  much  gone  to  waste,  cried  cut  with  bitter  re- 
gret, "  Oh,  I  have  lost  a  day  !  "  That  exclamation,  as  he 
uttered  it,  vibrates  upon  my  ear  to  this  hour.  I  doubt 
whether  Kean  could  have  pronounced  it  more  effectively. 

'It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  say  much  of  the  gen- 
eral character  of  Dr.  Miller's  sermons,  as  so  many  of  them 
have  been  published,  that  multitudes,  who  have  never  heard 
him  preach,  have  still  had  the  opportunity  of  judging  of  his 
mode  of  sermonizing.  It  always  seemed  to  me,  that  he 
was  one  of  the  safest  and  best  models  in  this  respect  that  I 
have  known.  His  sermons,  like  his  lectures,  were  thorough- 
ly methodical ;  they  had  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end ; 
and  the  attentive  hearer,  after  listeninn;  to  one  of  them, 
would  find  that  the  substance  of  it  was  lodged  in  his  memory, 
as  material,  if  he  were  disposed  thus  to  appropriate  it,  for 
devout  meditation.  I  think  there  was  no  great  originality 
in  his  sermons,  especially  those  which  were  written  out  and 
read ;  they  had  not  generally  the  appearance  of  being 
greatly  elaborated;  much  less  was  there  anything  in  them 
that  approached  to  philosophical  abstraction;  but  they 
were  sober,  practical,  well  considered  exhibitions  of  divine 
truth ;  they  were  evidently  the  productions  of  a  workman 
that  needed  not  to  be  ashamed.  A  few  of  his  discourses, 
however,  made  a  much  stronger  impression  upon  me  than 
the  rest,  particularly  one  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion. I  thought  at  the  time,  and  still  think,  that  I  never 
heard  that  glorious  subject  treated  in  a  more  edifying  and 
eloquent  manner,  than  it  was  treated  in  that  discourse.  I 
recollect,  some  time  after  I  left  the  Seminary,  falling  in 
with  Governor  Robinson  of  Vermont,  and  he  mentioned 

Vol.  II.— 1. 


34  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  5. 

that  he  once  heard  Dr.  Miller  preach  that  sermon  before 
Congress,  and  that  it  was  listened  to  bj  the  members  with 
great  attention  and  admiration. 

'  One  of  the  most  noticeable  things  in  this  venerable  man, 
pertaining  to  his  connection  with  the  Seminary,  was  the 
affectionate  and  paternal  solicitude  Avhich  he  evinced  for 
the  welfare  of  the  students.  At  the  Sabbath  afternoon 
conference  which  was  held  in  the  oratory,  he  was  very 
regular  and  punctual  in  his  attendp.nce;  and  it  was  there 
especially  that  he  met  us  with  a  father's  counsels,  and 
brought  out  to  us  the  ample  treasures  of  his  own  Christian 
experience.  He  was  accustomed  also  to  converse  much 
with  the  students  in  private  in  regard  to  their  spiritual  in- 
terests, and  especially  when  there  were  any  difficulties  to 
be  removed,  or  any  wounded  spirits  to  be  administered  to. 
In  a  case  of  dangerous  illness,  he  would  visit  the  room  of 
the  invalid  with  almost  as  much  apparent  interest,  as  if  he  ^ 
had  been  visiting,  in  similar  circumstances,  the  chamber  of 
his  own  son.  An  instance  of  his  very  kind  and  considerate 
regard,  of  which  I  was  myself  the  subject,  now  occurs  to 
me.  I  had  been  quite  ill  for  several  weeks,  and,  hj  ad- 
vice of  the  Professors,  had  determined  to  pay  a  visit  to  my 
friends  in  New  En^^land.  Just  as  I  was  on  the  eve  of 
commencing  my  journey,  Dr.  Miller  sent  me  a  bottle  of 
very  old  wine,  accompanied  with  a  kind  note,  in  which  he 
expressed  great  concern  for  my  health,  and  a  wish  that  the 
wine  might  strengthen  me  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  travel- 
ling. 1  do  not  know,  whether,  with  the  more  stringent 
views  of  temperance  which  he  subsequently  held,  he  would 
have  sent  me  urine;  but  I  am  quite  sure  that  he  would  not 
have  been  unmindful  of  me,  and  that  he  would  have  sent 
me  anything  within  his  reach,  which  he  had  supposed  would 
minister  to  my  comfort. 

'  I  always  thought  that  Dr.  Miller's  social  qualities  were 
of  the  highest  order.  He  talked  a  good  deal;  but  nobody, 
I  imagine,  ever  felt  that  he  talked  too  much.  His  exten- 
sive and  varied  information,  his  large  fund  of  amusing  anec- 
dote, his  easy  and  flowing  style  of  speaking,  and  his 
perfectly  urbane  and  courteous  manner,  could  not  but  ren- 
der him  a  favorite  in  every  circle  into  which  he  was  thrown. 
He  would  not  hesitate  to  reprove  one  for  his  faults;  but 


1818.]  REMINISCENCES.  35 

he  did  it  with  such  manifest  Christian  sincerity  and  gentle- 
ness, that  the  reproof  coukl  scarcely  fail  to  endear  him  to 
the  offender.  He  had  sometimes  an  inimitable  wav  of  hit- 
ting  off  the  character  of  an  individual  in  a  few  words,  each 
word  indicating  a  distinct  characteristic.  I  remember,  for 
instance,  when  I  was  about  to  leave  the  Seminary,  to 
preach  as  a  candidate  for  settlement  at  West  Springfield,  I 
asked  him  what  sort  of  a  man  Dr.  Lathrop  was — then  the 
aged  pastor  of  the  West  Springfield  church.  He  gave  me 
his  character  in  about  six  words;  and  as  it  subsequently 
opened  upon  me  from  an  acquaintance  with  him,  I  found 
him  to  be  precisely  as  Dr.  Miller  had  represented.  Dr. 
Miller  had  passed  a  few  days  with  the  old  gentleman  a  num- 
ber of  years  before,  and  had  left  a  most  agreeable  impres- 
sion upon  him;  which  I  found  was  not  altogether  without 
its  advantage  to  me,  as  I  carried  Dr.  Lathrop  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Miller,  which  he  highly  appreciated,  and  was  fully  dis- 
posed to  honour. 

'I  cannot  forbear  here  to  add,  that  I  have  had  evidence 
that  Dr.  Miller  was  one  of  the  most  foro-ivino;  of  mortals. 
I  have  heard  him,  more  than  once,  talk  about  people  who 
I  knew  had  manifested  towards  him  a  most  unreasonable 
hostility,  and,  in  one  or  two  instances,  I  believe,  had  sought 
to  injure  his  character  and  usefulness  ;  and  I  have  some- 
times watched  to  see,  whether  any  expression  of  ill  will,  or 
even  impatience,  concerning  them,  would  escape  him ;  but 
never  did  I  hear  a  word.  On  the  contrary,  I  recollect  one 
instance  in  Avhich,  after  he  had  spoken  in  high  terms  of  a 
certain  individual,  I  said  to  him,  "But  I  am  surprised  to 
hear  you  say  that.  Sir,  for  I  thought  he  had  treated  you 
with  great  unkindness."  "Yes,"  said  the  Doctor,  "he 
did;  but  he  was  a  highly  respectable  man,  and  I  doubt  not 
a  truly  pious  man,  notwithstanding." 

'On  leaving  the  Seminary  I  had  no  right  to  expect  that 
my  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Miller  would  be  continued  in  any 
other  than  the  most  general  manner ;  but  it  turned  out 
otherwise — it  was  my  privilege  to  share  largely  in  his  offices 
of  frood  will  as  lon<r  as  he  lived.  Whenever  I  visited  Prince- 
ton,  his  house  was  my  home.  Whenever  I  needed  advice  in 
respect  to  any  matter  of  difficulty,  he  allowed  me  to  consult 
him  with  the  utmost  freedom ;  and  he  never  failed  to  throw 


36  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.     [CH.  24.  6. 

much  light  on  the  subject  of  my  inquiries.  Whenever  he 
knew  that  I  was  in  affliction,  he  was  sure  to  communicate 
to  me  in  some  way  the  expression  of  his  sympathy.  •  When- 
ever I  had  any  service,  as  I  bad  in  several  instances,  which 
it  was  particularly  desirable  that  he  should  perform  for  me, 
I  had  only  to  communicate  the  request  to  him,  to  have  it 
complied  with.  When  I  came  from  West  Springfield  to  my 
present  charge,  he  readily  consented  to  preach  my  installa- 
tion sermon;  and  did  preach  it  greatly  to  the  delight  of  a 
very  large  audience.  In  a  work  in  which  I  have  been  en- 
gaged for  some  years  past,  commemorative  of  the  more 
prominent  deceased  clergymen  of  this  country,  he  mani- 
fested a  deep  interest ;  and  continued,  from  time  to  time, 
to  furnish  me  his  recollections  of  his  ancient  friends,  until 
very  near  the  day  when  he  himself  became  a  subject  for 
biography.  Others,  I  know,  have  had  a  similar  experience 
in  respect  to  him.  His  large  heart  disposed  him  to  serve 
his  friends  to  the  utmost — to  do  good  to  all  as  he  had  op- 
portunity and  ability.' 

The  brief  remainder  of  Dr.  Sprague's  reminiscences,  re- 
ferring to  Dr.  jMiller's  last  days,  will  appear  on  a  subse- 
quent page.  The  Rev.  Francis  McFarland,  D.D.,  matricu- 
lated in  1817,  in  a  letter  of  condolence  to  Mrs.  Miller,  just 
after  her  husband's  death,  said, 

'There  were  three  men  towards  whom  I  felt  as  towards 
no  others  on  earth.  The  first  was  the  Rev.  Elisha  Macur- 
dy,  who  died  a  few  years  ago  in  Allegheny  City,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  who  was  my  spiritual  father,  and  to  whose  advice 
and  influence  I  owe  it  that  I  am  in  the  ministry.  The  other 
two  were  Dr.  Miller  and  Dr.  Alexander.  I  regard  it  as  a 
dispensation  of  divine  Providence,  for  which  I  can  nev^r 
be  sufficiently  grateful,  that  I  was  led  to  prosecute  my 
studies  under  the  direction  of  those  men.  They  were  the 
only  professors  in  the  Seminary  when  I  was  a  student. 
The  students  were  then  comparatively  few,  and  we  had 
more  free  intercourse  with  the  professors  than  could  be  en- 
joyed when  they  became  more  numerous.  I  was  probably 
the  oldest  student  in  the  Seminary  at  the  time  ;  and  whether 
it  was  on  that  account,  or  some  other,  I  know  not;  but  I 
often  received  from  you  and  Dr.  Miller  distinguishing 
marks  of  kindness  and  confidence.     More  than  once,  when 


1818.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  37 

you  and  he  were  to  spend  the  night  from  home,  have  I  been 
invited  to  spend  it  at  your  house,  as  the  protector  of  your 
then  young  family.  I  was  also  allowed  to  visit  you  with  a 
freedom  rather  becoming  a  relative  than  a  stranger.' 

6.     Correspondence. 

Mr.  Rice  commenced  the  Virginia  Evangelical  and  Lite- 
rary Magazine  with  the  beginning  of  the  year  1818,  and 
turned  to  the  professors  of  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  as 
tried  friends,  for  assistance.  Writing  to  Dr.  Alexander, 
who  had  been  his  theological  preceptor  in  Virginia,  on  the 
31st  of  December,  1817,  he  says, 

"  Will  you  try  to  enlist  the  zeal  and  talents  of  Dr.  Miller  in 
our  behalf?  We  want  the  aid  of  his  historical  knowledge.  All 
that  we  can  find,  concerning  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  this  country,  will  furnish  very  acceptable 
matter  for  the  Magazine." 

Dr.  Miller  afterwards  wrote  to  Dr.  Rice,  ' 

'Rev'd  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  December  14,  1818. 

'  I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  27th  ult.  Although  I 
am  a  busy  man,  and  withal  a  little  lazy ;  and,  of  course,  like 
the  ghosts,  seldom  speak  till  I  am  spoken  to,  yet  I  can  truly 
say,  that  a  letter  from  you  always  does  my  very  heart  good. 
If  I  dared,  on  account  of  any  return  I  am  able  to  make,  I  would 
say,  write  frequently.  As  it  is,  I  can  only  promise  a  hearty 
welcome  to  all  you  can  write,  at  all  times. 

'  It  gives  me  unfeigned  pleasure  to  know,  that  Virginia  is 
more  and  more  disposed  to  listen  to  the  gospel  message.  And 
it  certainly  does  not  diminish  my  pleasure  to  hear,  that  many 
are  particularly  desirous  of  receiving  it  from  Presbyterians. 
The  calls  for  missionaries  from  every  part  of  our  country,  are 
numerous  and  loud.  What  will  be  done  to  sup})ly  them  I 
know  not.  May  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  send  forth  more 
laborers  into  his  harvest ! 

'  You  will  be  disappointed,  my  dear  Sir,  if  you  expect  any 
light  from  me,  upon  the  subject  on  wdiich  you  are  to  report  to 
Presbytery — I  mean  the  subject  of  licensing  exhorters  and  cate- 
chists.  I  have  no  historical  information  to  give ;  nor  do  I  know 
where  to  find  any  that  is  ad  rem.  Perhaps  the  best  series  of 
facts  applicable  to  this  subject  is  that  which  is  furnished  by  the 
history  of  some  portions  of  the  Independent  Church,  and  these 
facts,  I  suspect,  would  not  be  very  creditable  to  the  practice  of 
lay-preaching  and  exhorting. 


38  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP,     [cil.  24.  6. 

'  On  the  whole,  if  I  were  on  the  committee  to  report  on  this 
subject  to  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  I  should  be  disposed  to 
give  an  answer  adverse  to  the  proposed  measure.  I  should  say, 
such  a  measure  would  be  uncondltutlomd — that  is,  our  con- 
stitution makes  no  provision  for  it;  nor  do  I  think  the  Scriptures 
make  any ;  and  we  profess  to  consider  them  our  rule  of  faith 
and  practice.  The  Scriptures,  indeed,  direct  all  Christians  to 
"  exhort  one  another  daily,"  "  lest  any  be  hardened,  etc. ;" 
but  this,  I  take  it,  is  something  different  from  public  exhorting, 
and  that  in  virtue  of  an  ecclesiastical  license. 

*  And  to  me  it  appears  still  more  decidedly  inexpedient,  than 
it  is  unconstitutional.     All  that  belongs  to  private  teaching,  or 
that  which  it  is  lawful  for  a  private  Christian  to  perform,  and 
which  does  not  encroach  on  the  ministerial  office,  may  be  done, 
by  the  persons  in  question,  without  your  license  as  well  as  with 
it.     And  anything  beyond  that  they  ought  not  to  do  even  with 
a  license.     If  3'ou  ask   me,  how  I  will   draw  the  line   between 
private  and  public  teaching,  I  frankly  confess,  I  cannot  draw 
it.     Xobody  doubts  that  a  private  Christian  may  catechize  or 
instruct,  in  a  parlor,  or  in  a  school-house,  a  dozen  people,  young 
or  old,  who  are  disposed  to  listen  to  him.     If  he  may  thus 
address  a  dozen,  why  not  three  dozen? — why  not  six  dozen? 
And,  if  he  may  do  this  standing  on  the  floor  of  the  apart- 
ment, why  not  do  it  standing  on  a  platform,  or  behind  a  desk, 
or  in  a  pulpit  ?     The  truth  is,  I  find  it  one  of  the  hardest  things 
in  the  world  to  draw  the  line  between  private  and  public  teach- 
ing ;  between  that  which  an  ordinary  Christian  may  do,  and 
that  which  none  but  a  licentiate  or  minister  ought  to  attempt. 
I  am  a  warm  friend  to  private  Christians  being  much  engaged 
in  the  business  of  catechising,  and  private  teaching  and  exhort- 
ing.     But    I  think    everything  that   properly  falls   into  this 
department  of  instruction  had  better  be  performed  without  the 
license  of  a  presbytery  than  with  it;  because,  with  such  a  license, 
publicly  avowed,  it  will  appear  to  the  people  more  like  public 
preaching  than  otherwise  ;  and  no  explanation  will  be  sufiicient 
to  prevent  the  misconstruction.     And,  if  any  little  transcending 
of  proper  limits  should  ever  occur,  will  it  not  be  better  that  it 
should  take  place  in  the  hands  of  a  man  not  licensed  by  the 
presbytery,  than  in  the  hands  of  one  clothed  with  any  kind  or 
degree  of  authority?     Thus  I  have  hastily  and  crudely  thrown 
out  my  thoughts  on  this  subject  as  they  arose.     I  am  conscious 
they  are  worth  nothing  to  a  mind  like  yours.     But  such  as  they 
are  you  have  them. 

'  With  respect  to  the  Magazine,  I  think  that  it  is  conducted 
not  only  well,  but  very  honorably.     If  I  were  not  writing  to 


1818.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  39 

the  editor,  I  should  say  more.  But,  if  you  knew  how  oppressed 
and  borne  down  I  am  with  the  duties  of  my  office,  and  how 
perfect  a  stranger  to  a  leisure  half  hour,  you  certainly  would 
not  propose  my  writing  for  it.' 

The  following  letter  was  written  to  Mrs.  Valeria  Fuller- 
ton,  widow  of  R.  Fullerton,  Esquire,  and  fifth  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Elihu  Spencer,  and,  therefore,  an  aunt  of  Mrs. 
Miller,  who  had  moreover,  at  one  time,  before  marriage, 
resided  with  her. 

'My  dear  Madam,  Princeton,  December  25,  1818. 

'Having  a  leisure  hour  to-day,  which  I  have  not  before  had 
since  my  return  from  Philadelphia,  I  seize  the  opportunity  to 
assure  you  of  our  contiaued  sympathy,  and  our  affectionate 
recollection. 

'  We  have  cherished  the  hope,  until  within  a  short  time,  that 
we  should  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  in  Princeton,  before 
the  severity  of  Winter  should  set  in.  But  we  now  fear  this  hope 
must  be  given  up  for  the  present  season.  I  trust  it  is  unnecessary 
for  me  to  say,  that  we  should  have  been  greatly  gratified  to  see 
you ;  and  that  we  shall  hope  for  that  pleasure  as  soon  as  the 
opening  Spring  will  allow  you  to  travel. 

'  Though  we  have  known  what  it  was  to  lose  a  beloved  son  ; 
j^et  we  are  aware  that  we  cannot  enter  into  all  your  feelings. 
We  have  a  number  still  left :  your  all  has  been  taken.  But, 
blessed  be  God !  though  this  is  the  case  with  respect  to  children, 
there  is  a  friend  left  infinitely  better  than  any  earthly  relative 
can  be.  Our  hope  and  prayer  is,  that  you  may  find  a  gracious 
God,  even  your  father's  God,  a  present  help  in  every  time  of 
trouble ;  and  that,  even  in  tribulation,  you  will  be  enabled  to 
rejoice  in  Him  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. 

'  I  have  no  wish,  my  dear  Aunt,  to  represent  your  loss  as  less 
than  it  really  is.  It  is  truly  and  unspeakably  great.  But  my 
wish  is  to  turn  your  mind  to  the  numerous  mercies  which  have 
attended  this  bereavement,  and  which  furnish  ground  for  the 
deepest  thankfulness  ;  and,  especially,  when  streams  of  earthly 
comfort  are  dried  up,  that  your  views  may  be  directed  to  that 
infinitely  better  Friend,  who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  whosever 
believetli  on  him  might  have  everlasting  life ;  and  in  whom  is 
all  our  hope  as  sinners.  If  it  should  please  God,  by  taking 
away  your  dearest  earthly  relative,  to  give  you  clearer  views 
than  you  have  ever  had  before  of  the  Saviour's  glory  and  ex- 
cellence, and  to  lead  you  to  an  unreserved  and  affectionate 
dedication  of  yourself  to  him,  who  styles  himself  emphatically 
the  "  Consolation  af  Israel,"  you  will  have  reason  to  say  with 


40  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CII.  24.  7. 

one  of  old,  "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted."  I 
hope  that  it  will  be  your  daily  prayer  that  this  may  be  the 
blessed  result.  I  can  say,  with  that  confidence  which  experi- 
ence alone  can  give,  that  the  best,  nay,  the  only  refuge,  under 
bereavement  and  sorrow,  is  a  throne  of  grace  and  a  cov^enant 
God. 

'  My  dear  Sarah  thinks  and  speaks  much  of  you  ;  and  some- 
times has  even  talked  of  going  down  to  Philadelphia,  and 
bringing  you  up  with  her  to  Princeton.  But  the  severity  of 
the  weather  and  the  care  of  eight  children  have  prevented. 
She  and  I  are  both  of  opinion,  that  if  you  could  make  an  effort 
to  stir  a  little  about  the  house,  and  attend,  in  a  moderate  degree, 
to  your  domestic  affairs,  it  would  be  of  use  to  your  health  and 
spirits.  Forgive  this  suggestion.  It  is  made  from  the  sincerest 
desire  to  promote  your  comfort,  and  from  some  experience  of 
the  nature  of  trouble,  and  of  those  things  which  are  calculated 
to  cherish  and  continue  it. 

*  Let  us  hear  from  you  soon  ;  and  recollect  that  it  will  always 
give  us  great  pleasure  to  receive  your  commands. 

'  That  our  Heavenly  Father  may  bless  and  comfort  you,  and 
give  you  strength  under  all  your  trials,  is  the  unfeigned  prayer 
of  your  affectionate  niece,  and  of  him  who,  with  the  sincerest 
regard,  is 

*  Affectionately  yours,     *     *  ' 

Dr.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  who  had  retired  from  the 
presidency  of  the  College  in  the  autumn  of  1812,  after 
filling  that  office  for  more  than  seventeen  years,  died  lu 
Princeton  on  the  21st  of  August,  1819.  "His  remains 
were  interred  near  those  of  his  venerable  predecessors, 
amidst  a  larorer  assemblaoi;e  of  mourners,  inhabitants  and 
strangers,  than  was  ever  before  seen,  on  a  like  occasion,  in 
the  village  of  Princeton."  "  The  students  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  preceded  the  corpse.  The  two  professors  of  this 
institution,  and  four  clerical  members  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees bore  the  pall."  The  students  of  the  College  walked  as  . 
mourners.  Dr.  Miller,  by  request  of  the  College  trustees, 
prepared  the  Latin  epitaph  which  was  inscribed  upon  the 
tomb. 

7.     Education  Societies. 

In  1815,  TJie  American  Education  Society  was  formed 
in  Boston,  and  its  founders,  like  those  of  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  seem  fully  to  have  expected  to  include 
the  Presbyterian,  as  well  as  the  Congregational,  Church  in 


1819.]  ErUOATIOX    SOCIETIES.  41 

their  operations.     But,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  there 
was  a  gro^Ying  jealousy  of  New  England   Theology,  and 
New  England  fraternization  :  and  an  education  society  of 
its  own  was  freely  talked  of  in  various  quarters.     The  Pro- 
fessors of  the  Seminary  at  Princeton  had,  for  more  than  a 
year,  entertained  and  debated  such  a  project,  and,  in  the 
first  week  of  October,  1818,  it  was  brought  before  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick,  to  which  they  belonged ;  but, 
after  an  interchange  of  views,  definite  action  was  deferred, 
that,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  a  society  for  the 
whole  Church  might  be  organized.     When,  two  weeks  later, 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  met,  a  like  project 
was  suggested  to  one  of  the  Professors,  and  an  immediate 
organization  urged,  on  the  ground,  that  the  American  Edu- 
cation Society  was  about  to  send  an  agent  to  the  South  to 
solicit  funds,  which  ought,  properly,  to  be  controlled  for 
the  sole  benefit  of  Presbyterianism.     Dr.  Alexander  and 
Dr.  Miller  then  consented  to  attend  a  meeting  in  New  York, 
where  the  Synod  was  in  session,  to  take  immediate  measures 
for  the  formation  of  a  society.     A  committee  appointed  at 
this  meeting  prepared  a  Constitution,  which  w^as  reported 
to  another  meetinor  held  at  New  Brunswick,  on  the  26th  of 
November,  where  and  when  an  organization  was  effected 
under  the  title  of  The  Education  Society  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.     The  plan, 
how^ever,  of  this   organization,  originating   in   New  Y'^ork 
City,  and  insisted  upon,  in  spite  of  the  expostulations  of 
a  minority,  including  the  Princeton  Professors,  was  found 
to  be,  like  the  position  of  New  York  between  Philadelphia 
and  Boston,  a  half-w^ay  affair  betw^een  Presbyterianism  and 
Congregationalism.     Particularly,  the  authority,  and  even 
the    influence    of    the    General    Assembly    were    provided 
against,  and,  on  the  strange  plea  of  irreconcilable  theologi- 
cal differences  in  the  Presbyterian   Church,  provision  was 
made  for  the  academical  training  only  of  candidates,  whose 
theological  trainino-  was  thus  virtuallv  left  to  the  Boston 
Society.     Protesting  against  these  and  other  features  ot 
the  organization,   Dr.  Alexander   and   Dr.  Miller  courte- 
ously  withdrew  from  the  meeting. 

Meanwhile,   in    the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,   assembling 
simultaneously  with  that  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 


42  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.     [CH.  24.  T. 

originated  a  proposition  to  form  an  education  society  of  a 
more  thoroughly  Presbyterian  stamp.  In  this  measure,  the 
Professors  of  the  Seminary  now  heartily  concurred ;  and, 
on  the  17th  of  December,  The  Education  Society  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States^  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly^  was  formed  in  the  City  of  Phila- 
delphia, providing  for  the  theological  as  w^ell  as  academical 
training  of  candidates,  and  for  strict  amenability  to  the 
Church.  The  Constitution  and  By-laws  were  prepared  by 
a  committee  consisting  of  Drs.  Janeway.  Neill,  Wilson, 
Green,  Alexander  and  Miller,  and  the  Rev.  James  Patter- 
son. 

Overtures  were  now  made,  though  irresponsibly,  by  a 
certain  minister  in  New  York,  ^Ho  the  gentlemen  in  Prince- 
ton," for  a  reconciliation  between  the  two  schemes ;  but 
these  overtures  not  meeting  their  vie\vs,  and  being  without 
real  authority,  were  disregarded.  Of  this,  and  of  the 
whole  course  of  the  Professors  of  the  Seminary,  the  Rev. 
James  Richards,  D.D.,  of  Newark,  complained,  heavily,  in 
a  printed  circular,  to  which  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller 
replied,  in  another  circular,  dated  the  12th  of  February, 
1819,  and  evidently  from  the  pen  of  the  latter,  whose  sig- 
nature also  stands  first.  The  whole  Princeton  circular  is 
most  suggestive  of  the  differences  and  difficulties  which 
were,  already,  agitating  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
forming  gradually  within  it  two  hostile  parties,  which, 
about  five  or  six  years  later,  began  to  be  designated  as  Old 
School  and  New  School.  Subsequently,  the  Philadelphia 
Society  and  that  of  New  York  had  some  correspondence  re- 
lating to  reconciliation  ;  but  it  resulted  in  nothing ;  their 
differences  were  too  serious  for  adjustment,  embracing,  as 
they  did,  in  a  shape  already  quite  distinct,  the  whole  con- 
troversy, which,  from  this  time,  became  so  earnest,  between 
the  advocates  of  church  boards  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
voluntary  societies  on  the  other.  Already,  too,  both  par- 
ties recognized  the  existence  of  doctrinal  diversities  lying 
at  the  foundation  of  all  these  ecclesiastical  troubles  ;  and 
just  here,  particularly,  we  find  the  New-School  confessing, 
that  these  diversities  of  belief  were  so  great  as  to  forbid  the 
harmonious  union  of  the  two  parties  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  any  scheme  of  theological  education  ! 


1819.]  EDUCATION    SOCIETIES.  43 

"We  were  told,"  says  the  Princeton  circular,  "by  the  ma- 
jority, [at  the  Kew  Brunswick  meeting,]  that  this  [the  exclu- 
sion of  the  theological  training]  was  considered,  by  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution,  as  one  of  the  most  essential  features  of  the 
whole  plan ;  that  there  were  known  to  be  differences  of  theo- 
logical opinion  among  us;  and  that,  unless  we  left  out  the 
theological  part  of  education  altogether,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  proceed  harmoniously.  We  were  both  surprized  and  grieved 
to  hear  an  argument  of  this  kind  introduced.  *  *  The  majori- 
ty, however,  persisted  in  this  course  of  discussion,  and  repeated- 
ly avowed  their  determination  to  act  with  reference  to  these 
differences  of  opinion  in  forming  the  proposed  society.  ^  * 

"  We  deeply  regretted,  from  the  beginning,  that  party  con- 
siderations should  have  been  brought  into  view  on  this  subject. 
We  still  regret  it.  But  since  it  has  been  done  and  persisted  in, 
by  our  Brethren,  we  hope  it  will  be  offensive  to  none,  if  we 
most  respectfully  offer  a  few  queries,  founded  on  the  acknowl- 
edged fact,  that  there  are  differences  of  opinion  in  our  church : — • 
Was  it  unreasonable  to  doubt  whether  Brethren  all  from  one 
neighborhood,  and,  with  respect  to  theological  opinions,  all,  ex- 
cepting a  single  individual,  of  one  party,  were,  or  could  be, 
qualified  to  form  a  Constitution  adapted  to  our  whole  Church  ? 
Of  those  who  finally  adopted  the  Constitution,  was  there  a  soli- 
tary  individual,  who  did  not  belong  to  that  party?  Was  it 
unreasonable  in  those,  who,  though  a  small  minority  at  the 
meeting  in  question,  sincerely  believed  that  they  represented 
the  sentiments  of  a  large  majority  of  our  Church,  to  wish  that 
an  opportunity  might  be  a'ffbrded  for  the  deliberate  and  fair 
expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  vrhole  Church?  Was  it  un- 
reasonable in  the  minority,  when  they  well  knew,  not  only  that 
a  great  and  powerful  Education  Society  was  in  full  operation 
in  New  England;  but  also  that  another,  no  less  powerful,  and 
perhaps  more  rich,  had  also  been  organized  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  in  the  bosom  of  that  part  of  our  Church ; — was  it 
unreasonable,  that  on  this,  as  well  as  on  other  accounts,  they 
should  think  it  highly  expedient  to  carry  the  permanent  seat 
of  our  Society  at  least  as  far  south  as  Philadelphia?  Would 
the  minority  have  been  faithful  to  the  Church  of  which  they 
are  members,  if  they  had  either  concurred  in  the  measures  pur- 
sued, or  been  silent,  when  they  verily  thought  both  the  interests 
and  wishes  of  a  great  majority  of  that  Church  were  not  con- 
sulted? Did  it  "evince  a  disposition  to  have  everything  in  our 
hands,"  that  we  were  unwilling  to  become  subservient  to  a 
plan,  which,  however  honestly  intended,  we  were  persuaded,  in 


44  FIRST  YEAES  IX  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [ciI.  24.  8. 

its  operation,  would  be  far  from  being  either  impartial  or  bene- 
ficial?" 

Among  the  propositions  made  bj  the  Philadelphia,  to  the 
New  York,  Societ3%  pending  their  negotiations,  was  this  : — 
that  each  of  the  Societies  should  request  the  next  General 
Assembly  to  appoint  an  Education  Board  for  the  whole 
Church,  to  which  each  of  them  might  be  a  mere  auxiliary. 
This  proposition  was,  of  course,  rejected ;  but  the  Assem- 
bly of  1819,  did,  nevertheless,  appoint  such  a  Board; 
though,  through  adverse  influences,  it  w^as  left  so  powerless, 
that,  for  five  years,  it  accomplished  next  to  nothing;  and 
then  had  so  little  eflSciency  imparted  to  it,  that,  at  the  end 
of  seven  years  more,  one  of  its  opponents,  a  member,  how- 
ever, of  a  committee  upon  its  affairs,  "  contemptuously 
remarked,  that  the  Board  was  dead,  and  it  would  be  well 
to  leave  its  burial  to  the  Philadelphia  brethren."  But  the 
Philadelphia  brethren,  "having  received  such  a  charge," 
nevertheless  found  life  in  the  body  left  for  dead,  and  happi- 
ly resuscitated  it  to  do,  as  it  has  beeft  doing  ever  since,  a 
noble  work. 

Before  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick  had  determined  to  form  an  Education 
Society,  auxiliary  to  the  general  Society  organized  in 
Philadelphia.  Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller  were  appointed 
to  draft  the  Constitution,  which  they  reported  in  October, 
1819. 

8.       CORRESPONDEXCE. 

In  January,  1820,  we  find  Dr.  Miller  writing  to  Dr. 
Rice, 

'  Our  Seminary  is  going  on  tolerably  well.  The  number  of 
students  is  sixty-nine; — larger  than  we  ever  had  before.  But 
with  respect  to  funds,  our  situation  and  prospects  are  gloomy 
enough ; — quite  enough  so  to  alarm  us  thoroughly,  if  we  had 
not  a  confident  persuasion,  that  He  who  is  able  to  take  care  of 
it,  and  provide  for  it,  will  not  suffer  it  to  sink.  We  cannot 
hope  that  its  affairs,  in  this  respect,  will  be  materially  bettered 
very  soon.  But  the  Lord  will  provide.  AVe  do  not  admit  any 
other  thought.  It  is  good  to  be  poor  and  pinched.  Somehow 
or  another,  I  find  that,  at  such  a  time,  we  are  more  apt  to  look 
upward,  and  feel  our  dependence,  than  in  other  circumstances. 

*  I  have  been  thinking  a  little,  my  dear  Brother,  respecting 
the  state  of  your  mind  as  to  the  **  opening  sermon,"  in  May 


1819.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  47 

next ;  and  the  result  of  my  cogitations  is  this.  If  that  service 
were  about  to  devolve  on  me,  I  should  certainly,  with  my  pre- 
sent views,  take  conciliatory  ground,  and  preach  a  sermon  the 
object  of  which  should  be  to  promote  harmony  and  love.  I 
have  even  said  to  myself,  'If  I  were  about  to  preach  on  that 
occasion,  I  would  select  some  such  theme  as  the  following : — 
"  The  objects  luhich  ministers  of  Christ  ought  to  have  in  view  in 
coming  together  in  their  general  councils!'  I  have  not  thought 
of  a  text ;  but  some  one  connected  with  the  Synod  of  Jerusa- 
lem might  answer,  or  fifty  others.  Among  other  things,  I 
should  say,  they  ought  to  come  together,  to  strengthen  each 
other's  hands,  to  warm  each  other's  hearts,  to  become  more  and 
more  united  in  counsels  and  exertions,  to  mingle  lights,  etc.  etc. 
Oh  when  shall  Synods  and  General  Assemblies  come  together 
and  deliberate  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  realize  the  complaint 
of  Gregory  Nazienzen  concerning  them? 

'  One  thing  I  will  venture  to  hint.  Are  you  not  aware  that 
our  Virginia  brethren,  under  God,  have  much  in  their  power 
respecting  the  future  destiny  of  our  Church  ?  We  ought  not  it 
split.  I  hope  we  shall  not.  But,  if  we  keep  together  whole- 
somely and  comfortably,  I  think  it  will  be  in  consequence  of  a 
kind  Providence's  making  use  of  the  candour,  impartiality,  and 
influence  of  the  ministers  of  your  Synod,  to  medate  and  mod- 
erate between  the  parties.  Our  Yankee  brethren,  I  believe, 
have,  in  general,  good  feelings  towards  you,  and  will  see  you 
exert  influence  without  pain.' 

Dr.  Rice's  sermon,  at  the  opening  of  the  Assembly,  on 
the  18th  of  May,  was  from  Romans  xiv.  19:  "Let  us 
therefore  follow  after  the  things  that  make  for  peace,  and 
things  wherewith  one  may  edify  another." 

The  Seminary,  to  the  condition  of  which  the  foregoing 
letter  refers,  was  steadily  increasing  in  the  number  of  its 
students,  but  was  constantly  and  painfully  embarrassed  for 
funds.  The  Board  of  Directors  issued  a  circular  in  Sep- 
tember, 1819,  when  the  number  of  students  exceeded  fifty, 
settincr  forth  the  necessities  of  the  Institution,  but  did  not 
succeed  in  awakening  any  great  degree  of  liberality.  The 
First  or  highest,  class  of  that  year  in  the  Seminary  re- 
solved to  found  a  scholarship,  in  regard  to  the  establishment 
of  which  the  reviewer  of  Dr.  Alexander's  Life,  in  the  Bibli- 
cal Repertory,^  remarks, 

"  Sometimes  a  state  of  real  cnthu=iia?m  was  produced  by  a 

I  For  1855.  p.  158. 
Vol.  II.— 5. 


46  -        FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  2-4.8. 

lecture  [of  Dr.  Alexander's]  which  seemed  to  dissipate  the 
darkness  that  hung  over  some  difficult  subject.  On  one  occa- 
sion of  the  kind  referred  to,  the  late  William  Nevins,  D.D.,  of 
Baltimore,  iTOved  and  admired  by  all  who  knew  him,  came  to 
the  room  of  two  of  his  classmates,  and  said,  "Brethren,  it  is' a 
shame,  that  we  should  enjoy  such  advantages,  and  do  nothing 
to  secure  to  others  the  same  privileges.  Our  class  ought  to  en- 
dow a  scholarship."  This  was  the  origin  of  the  scholarship  of 
1819.  When  a  committee  of  the  class  waited  on  Dr.  Miller 
to  inform  him  of  what  they  proposed  to  attempt,  Mr.  Nevins 
in  his  frank  manner  told  him  of  the  occasion  of  the  movement; 
when  the  holy  man,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  lifted  up  his  hands^ 
and  said,  "'My  young  friends,  I  do  not  believe  such  a  man  as 
Dr.  Alexander  walks  the  earth." 

On  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Miller,  in  1813,  the  two  pro- 
fessors "divide  the  whole  course  of  instruction,  prescribed 
bj  the  plan  of  the  Seminary,  between  them.  But  the  As- 
sembly which  met  in  May,  1820,  finding  that  the  health" 
of  Dr.  Alexander,  "  as  well  as  his  other  duties,  did  not 
admit  of  his  longer  continuing  to  conduct  the  instruction 
in  the  original  languages  of  Scripture,  resolved  to  authorize 
the  Professors  to  appoint  an  assistant  teacher  of  those  lan- 
guages. And  to  this  office  Mr.  Charles  Hodge,  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  then  a  licentiate  under  the  care  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  *  *  was  soon  afterward 
accordingly  appointed.  By  the  Assembly  which  met  in 
1822,  he  was  elected  Professor  of  "  Oriental  and  Biblical 
Literature,"  and  w^as  solemnly  inaugurated  in  the  following 
September."^ 

The  recommendation  of  a  subject  to  Dr.  Rice,  for  his 
General  Assembly  sermon,  evidently  had  regard  to  the  al- 
ready distracted  state  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
evil  which  Hopkinsianism  was  working  within  its  bounds, 
had  manifested  itself  in  the  division  of  the  Young  Men's 
Missionary  Society  of  New  York,  on  account  of  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  as  a  missionary,  because 
of  his  Hopkinsianism;  in  the  "  New  Test "  troubles;  in 
the  controversy  about  a  Board  of  Education  ;  and  in  vari- 
ous other  disagreements  and  difficulties.^  Firmly  as  Dr. 
Miller  had  resisted  the  eifort  to  commit  the  trainino;  of 
Presbyterian   candidates  for  the  ministry  to  irresponsible 

1  Brief  Hist,  of  Theol.  Sem.  (1838,)  2G,  7. 

2  See  Dr.  Baird's  Early  Policy  of  tho  Presb.  Church,  17. 


1820.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  47 

and  unfriendly  organizations,  he  was,  throughout,  an  earn- 
est advocate  of  peace,  whenever  he  did  not  regard  the 
purity  and  order  of  the  Church  as  endangered.  His  kindly 
feelings,  and  intimate  friendship  with  some  of  those  whose 
theological  aberrations  gave  most  alarm,  may  naturally 
have  blinded  him  to  evils  already  threatened,  and  afterwards 
more  clearly  developed. 

The  letter,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken, 
was  written  on  the  9th  of  February,  1820,  to  the  Rev. 
Jonathan  Freeman,  of  Bridgeton,  New  Jersey, 

'You  may  rely  upon  it,  my  dear  Brother,  that  we  have  a 
deep  impression  of  the  importance  of  endeavouring  to  build  up 
the  "  waste  places  "  in  West  Jersey,  and  every  disposition  to 
furnish  all  the  means  in  our  power.  But  where  Missionaries 
are  to  be  had,  is  a  question  which  distresses  and  perplexes  us, 
whenever  it  is  asked.  All  we  can  say  is,  that  we  hope  the  Lord 
will  2?rovide.  *  *  Mr.  G.  is,  I  believe,  a  decided  anti-Hop- 
kinsian.  Mr.  B.,  perhaps,  may  be  a  little  inclined  to  the 
Novanglian  speculations.     *     * 

'  With  respect  to  your  question  about  the  doctrine  of  Uni- 
versal Salvation,  I  state  the  following  fact.  In  the  year  1792, 
this  question  was  introduced  into  the  General  Assembly  from 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas — "  Are  they  who  publicly  profess  a 
belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  and  actual  salvation  of 
the  whole  human  race,  or  of  the  fallen  angels,  or  both,  through 
the  mediation  of  Christ,  to  be  admitted  to  the  sealing  ordin- 
ances of  the  Gospel  ?" 

' "  The  Assembly  determined  that  such  persons  should  not  be 
admitted."^ 

'  I  remember  to  have  heard  Dr.  Green  and  others  remark, 
that  considerable  stress  was  laid  upon  the  word  publicly ;  and 
that  if  a  member,  already  in  the  communion  of  the  Church, 
should  be  known  to  entertain  such  sentiments,  but  to  keep  them 
pretty  much  to  himself,  it  might  be  better  to  let  him  remain 
undisturbed.  And  my  opinion,  on  the  whole,  is,  that,  in  most 
cases,  this  course  would  be  the  best.  I  say,  in  most  cases,  be- 
cause some  cases  may  be  so  peculiarly  and  strongly  marked,  as 
manifestly  to  render  a  different  course  expedient.  With  regard 
to  receiving  a  person  to  membership,  who  is  not  yet  in  the 
Church,  while  he  is  known  to  be  a  Universalist  in  sentiment — 
I  should  certainly  be  very  unwilling  to  do  it.  Such  a  step 
would,  in  my  opinion,  be  very  injurious  in  its  tendency.  For, 
although  we  are  not  required  to  make  all  our  private  members 

1  Minutes  1792,  p.  60.    Reaffirmed  1794,  p.  86.     See  Baird's  IHg.,  (1856,)  32. 


48  FIRST  YEARS  IX  THE  PROFESSORSHIP,    [CH.  24.  8. 

subscribe  the  Confession  of  Faith,  formally  and  explicitly ;  yet 
the  doctrine  in  question  appears  to  me  so  peculiarly  pestiferous, 
that  I  cannot  help  believing  that  we  ought  to  be  especially  care- 
ful to  exclude  it  from  our  church. 

'  I  cannot  recollect  any  example  of  the  doctrine  of  Universal 
Salvation  being  taught  by  any  distinguished  man  previously 
to  the  time  of  Origen  in  the  3d  century. 

'In  haste  I  am,  Rev'd  and  dear  Sir, 
*  Respectfully  and  affectionately,  your  friend  and  brother, 

'Sam'l  Miller.' 
The  following  paragraph  is  from  Mrs.  Miller's  diary  : — 

'  Friday,  March  10th.  I  took  up  my  cross  when  I  first  began 
to  pray  in  our  family,  in  the  absence  of  my  husband,  about 
fourteen  years  ago ;  and  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  give  a  great 
reward.  Since  that  time,  I  have  been  called  to  several  little 
trials  in  this  way,  by  the  addition  of  a  relative  or  acquaintance 
now  and  then  on  such  occasions,  but  never  any  very  painful. 
I  have  some  impression  that  my  faith  and  resolution  are  to  be 
proved  more  decidedly  in  time  to  come.' 

To  Miss  Patton,  on  the  fifth  of  June,  1820,  on  the  eve 
of  her  marriage  to  John  Wales,  Esquire,  of  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  Dr.  Miller  writes, 

'  You  may  suppose  it  was  with  no  small  interest  that  I  heard, 
in  a  pretty  direct  manner,  several  weeks  since,  that  you  were 
on  the  eve  of  being  married,  and  now  receive  a  confirmation  of 
the  report  from  your  own  pen.  My  first  wish,  my  dear  Ann, 
is,  that  the  connection  which  you  have  in  view  may  take  place 
under  the  smiles  of  Heaven,  and  be  made  largely  to  promote 
your  temporal  and  eternal  happiness.  From  the  truly  respect- 
able character  of  Mr.  Y/ales,  I  am  led  to  indulge  very  pleasing 
anticipations ;  but,  after  all,  however  flattering  every  earthly 
prospect  and  calculation,  I  hope  you  and  I  shall  always 
recollect,  that  the  blessing  of  God  only  can  make  us  truly 
happy.     *     * 

'Your  aunt  has  been,  for  several  months  past,  in  very  delicate 
health.  For  restoring  and  confirming  it,  I  design,  with  the 
leave  of  Providence,  to  set  out,  to-morrow  morning,  on  a  journey 
to  New  England  with  her.  We  propose  to  travel  in  the  steam- 
boats and  stages,  and  to  be  absent  about  three  weeks.  This 
movement,  which  has  been  long  planned,  and  with  which 
several  purposes  are  connected,  will  render  it  impracticable  for 
me  to  be  in  Delaware  on  the  15th  instant.  It  would  give  me 
great  pleasure  to  be  present  and  to  solemnize  your  nuptials ; 
but,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  I  am  placed,  I  can  do  no 


182.\]  CORRESPONDENCE.  49 

more  than  send  forward  in  this  letter,  by  way  of  anticipation, 
to  you  and  Mr.  Wales,  my  best  wishes  and  very  cordial  bene- 
dictions.' 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  took  their  contemplated  journey  to 
New  England,  and  we  find  him  preaching  twice  on  the 
Sabbath,  June  11th,  at  Dorchester,  doubtless  for  his  friend, 
Mr.  Codman.  They  called  during  this  Journey,  upon  the 
Ex-president,  John  Adams,  to  whom  Dr.  Miller  wrote 
after  his  return  as  follows  : — 

'Princeton  (K  J.),  June  30,  1820. 

*  Honoured  and  dear  Sir, 

'  When  I  had  the  honour  and  pleasure  of  an  interview 
with  you,  at  Quincy,  a  fevf  weeks  ago,  in  company  with  Mrs. 
Miller,  we  spoke  of  her  brother,  John  Sergeant,  Esquire,  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  the  speech  which  he  delivered,  some  time  since,  in  that 
body,  on  the  Missouri  question. 

*  I  hardly  need  say,  that  it  gave  me  great  pleasure  to  hear 
you  speak,  as  you  did,  of  the  character  of  that  gentleman,  and 
of  his  efforts  to  serve  his  country  on  that  interesting  occasion. 
I  do  myself  the  honour  to  send  herewith  a  copy  of  his  speech, 
of  which  I  beg  your  acceptance. 

'  It  is  not  improbable  that  you  h?vve  seen  it  before.  If  so,  I 
shall  still  attain  one  of  my  purposes  in  sending  it,  which  is  to 
testify  my  profound  and  filial  respect  for  one  of  the  most  illus- 
trious fathers  and  benefactors  of  my  country;  and  also  to 
express  the  high  gratification  I  feel,  in  adverting  to  the  rela- 
tionship, however  distant,  between  your  family  and  mine, 
which  you  have  been  pleased  to  do  me  the  honour  repeatedly 
to  recognize  in  our  different  interviews. 

*In  the  year  1813,  my  residence  was  transferred  from  the 
city  of  Xew  York  to  this  place,  by  an  appointment  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  to  a  professorship  in  their  Theological  Seminary.  A 
pamphlet,  entitled  "A  Sketch,  etc.",  which  I  do  myself  the 
honour  to  inclose  wath  the  other,  will  probably  give  you  all  the 
information  concerning  the  rise,  progress  and  present  state  of 
that  institution  which  you  may  desire  to  receive. 

'  It  is  more  than  possible,  however,  that  a  mind  so  enlarged 
and  active  as  yours  may  feel  some  curiosity  to  know  the  gene- 
ral character  of  our  Seminary  as  to  theological  doctrine.  We 
stand  on  the  old  Calvinistic  ground  of  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly of  Divines,  as  exhibited  in  their  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Catechisms :  and,  although  this  ground  may  not  entirely  coin- 

6* 


50  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  8. 

cide  with  that  on  which  you  stand  ;  yet  I  have  no  doubt  you 
will  do  us  the  justice  to  believe  that  we  are  sincere  and  honest 
in  our  intentions. 

'Thus  much  I  have  said,  my  highly  venerated  Sir,  not  for 
the  purpose  of  entering  on  theological  discussion,  but  for  the 
purpose,  solely,  of  giving  some  account  of  myself  to  one  Avho, 
I  know,  approves  frankness,  and  who  has  been  pleased  to 
honour  me  with  some  portion  of  his  regard. 

'Mrs.  Miller  unites  with  me  in  most  respectful  salutations  to 
you  and  your  family. 

'That  your  declining  years  may  be  gilded  with  more  and 
more  enjoyment  of  the  best  kind ;  and  that  we  and  ours  may 
finally,  through  the  merits  of  our  exalted  Redeemer,  be  pre- 
pared to  spend  a  blissful  eternity  together,  is  the  humble 
prayer  of,  honoured  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obliged  and  most  respectful 

'  friend  and  servant, 

'Honourable  John  Adams.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

Dr.  Miller  received  the  following  answer — evidently 
written  by  an  amanuensis,  although  signed,  with  a  tremu- 
lous hand,  by  Mr.  Adams  himself: — 

'Dear  Sir,  Monteville,  July  7th,  1820. 

'  You  know  not  the  gratification  you  have  given  me  by  your 
kind,  frank,  and  candid  letter.  I  must  be  a  very  unnatural 
son,  to  entertain  any  prejudices  against  Calvinists  or  Calvinism, 
according  to  your  Confession  of  Faith ;  for  my  father  and 
mother,  my  uncles  and  aunts,  and  all  my  predecessors,  from 
our  common  ancestor  who  landed  in  this  country  two  hundred 
years  ago,  wanting  five  months,  were  of  that  persuasion.  In- 
deed I  have  never  known  any  better  people  than  the  Calvinists. 
Nevertheless  I  must  acknowledge  that  I  cannot  class  myself 
under  that  denomination.  My  opinions,  indeed,  on  religious 
subjects  ought  not  to  be  of  any  consequence  to  anybody  but 
myself.  To  develop  them,  and  the  reasons  for  them,  would 
require  a  folio  larger  than  Wiilard's  Body  of  Divinity.  And 
after  all  I  might  scatter  darkness  rather  than  light.  Before  I 
w^as  twelve  years  of  age,  I  necessarily  became  a  reader  of  po- 
lemical writings  of  religion  as  well  as  politics ;  and  for  more 
than  seventy  years  I  have  indulged  myself  in  that  kind  of 
reading.  As  far  as  the  wandering,  anxious,  and  perplexed 
kind  of  life  which  Providence  has  compelled  me  to  pursue, 
would  admit,  I  have  endeavored  to  obtain  as  much  information 
as  I  could  of  all  the  religions  which  have  ever  existed  in  the 
world.  Mankind  are  by  nature  religious  creatures.  I  have 
found  no  nation  without  a  religion,  nor  any  people  without  the 


18  20.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  51 

belief  of  a  Supreme  Being.  I  have  been  overwhelmed  with 
horror,  to  see  the  natural  love  and  fear  of  that  being  wrought 
upon  by  politicians  to  produce  the  most  horrid  cruelties,  super- 
stitions and  hypocrisy — from  the  sacrifices  to  Moloch,  to  those  of 
Juggernaut,  and  those  of  the  Kings  of  Whydah  and  Ashantee. 
The  great  result  of  all  my  researches  has  been  a  most  dilTusive 
and  comprehensive  charity.  I  believe,  with  Justin  Martyr, 
that  all  good  men  are  Christians;  and  I  believe  there  have 
been  and  are  good  men — sincere  and  conscientious — in  all 
nations.  That  you  and  I  shall  meet  in  a  better  world,  I  have 
no  more  doubt  than  I  have  that  we  now  exist  on  the  same 
globe.  If  my  natural  reason  did  not  convince  me  of  this, 
Cicero's  Dream  of  Scipio,  and  his  essays  on  Friendship  and  Old 
Age  would  have  been  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  But  Jesus 
taught  us,  that  a  future  state  is  asocial  state,  v/hen  he  promised 
to  prepare  places  in  his  Father's  house,  of  many  mansions,  for 
his  disciples. 

'  By  the  way,  I  wonder  not  at  the  petition  of  the  Pagans  to 
the  Emperor,  that  he  would  call  in  and  destroy  all  the  writings 
of  Cicero,  because  they  tended  to  prepare  the  mind  of  the  peo- 
ple, as  well  as  of  the  philosophers,  to  receive  the  Christian  reli- 
gion. 

'My  kind  compliments  to  Mrs.  Miller;  and  thank  her  for 
the  oblio-ino;  visit  she  made  me.  I  interest  mvself  much  in  her 
family.  Her  father  was  one  of  my  most  intimate  friends,  in  an 
earlier  part  of  his  life,  though  we  differed  in  opinion  on  the 
French  Revolution  in  the  latter  part  of  his  days.  But  I  find, 
that  difli*erences  in  opinion  in  politics,  and  even  in  religion,  make 
but  little  alteration  in  my  feelings  and  friendships,  when  once 
contracted. 

*I  have  not  received  Mr.  Sergeant's  speech,  nor  the  sketch. 
*I  am.  Sir,  with  great  and  sincere 
'Esteem  and  affection, 

'Your  friend  and  humble  servant, 
'John  Adams.' 

Though  Dr.  Miller  had  pleaded  his  multiplied  pressing 
duties  as  an  excuse  for  not  contributinor  to  The  Virginia 
Magazine,  we  find  him  occasionally  sending  an  article  to 
Dr.  Rice,  as  a  pledge  of  friendship  and  of  his  interest  in 
that  publication  as  a  channel  of  evangelical  truth.  The 
following  letter  accompanied  such  an  article,  and  other  let- 
ters, of  the  same  year,  refer  to  similar  contributions. 

'My  dear  Brother,  Princeton,  August  18,  1820. 

'Though  I  am  more  tardy  in  making  this  communica- 


52  FIRST  YEARS  IN  THE  PROFESSORSHIP.    [CH.  24.  8. 

tion  than  you  wished  me  to  be,  yet  I  cannot  think  myself  to 
blame  for  it.  I  have  been,  for  several  weeks  past,  almost  dis- 
tracted with  multiplied  and  oppressive  engagements.  I  really 
have  not  been  able,  until  this  moment,  to  scribble  off  anything 
more  about  the  Waldenses,  and  now  must  have  it  in  the  post- 
office  in  a  few  minutes. 

*  I  consider  the  death  of  Dr.  Hoge^  as  a  great  loss,  not  only 
to  Virginia,  but  also  to  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church.  Every 
successive  time  that  I  was  in  his  company,  my  estimate  both  of 
his  talents  and  his  piety  rose  continually.  It  is  my  deliberate 
persuasion,  that  he  was  one  of  the  very  best  men  I  ever  saw, 
and  that  his  mind  was  of  the  first  order.  With  all  this,  such 
modesty,  such  meekness,  such  child-like  simplicity,  as  he  con- 
stantly manifested,  both  inspired  and  charmed  me.  But  the 
Lord  can  do  without  any  of  us;  and  who  would  not  rejoice  that 
it  is  so  ?  Blessed  be  his  holy  name  that  he  reigneth,  and  that 
the  whole  earth  must  and  will  be  filled  with  his  glory ! 

'I  do  not  know  whom  you  will  get  to  supply  Dr.  Hoge's 
place.  But  pray  do  not  attempt  to  take  my  excellent  and  in- 
valuable brother  Alexander.  Can  you  find  in  your  heart  to 
concur  in  any  plan,  which  would  inflict  a  fatal  blow  on  our 
Seminary  ?  I  am  compelled  in  haste  to  conclude,  with  affec- 
tionate salutations  to  Mrs.  Rice,  in  which  Mrs.  Miller  joins. 

•     *  Cordially  your  brother, 

'Samuel  Miller.' 

Among  the  difficulties,  with  which  the  Seminary  was  soon 
obliged  to  contend,  was  the  effort,  in  some  quarters  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  establish  other  institutions,  rivals 
in  effect  though  not  in  name.  The  chief  plea  for  this  was 
exactly  the  same  which  has  ever  since  been  urged — the 
danger  that  young  men,  educated  far  away  from  home  for 
the  ministry,  would  lose  home  feelings ;  and  that  their  ser- 
vices would  be  lost  to  their  native  States.  In  our  own  day, 
we  see  the  strength  of  the  church  sadly  wasted  by  the  mul- 
tiplication of  seminaries,  the  greater  number  of  which  are 
exhausting,  in  a  bare  struggle  for  existence,  all  the  means 
and  energies  at  their  disposal.  In  1820,  we  find  the  Synod 
of  Tennessee  engaging  in  such  a  rival  enterprise.  The 
Rev.  Francis  McFarland,^  who  had  left  the  Princeton  Sem- 
inary in  that  or  the  previous  year,  writing  to  Dr.  Miller, 
says,  'I  was  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  at 

iThe  Rev.  Moses  Hoge,  D.D.,  who  died  on  the  5th  of  July,  1820.     See  3 
Sprague's  Annals,  426. 
2  Afterv/ards  D.D. 


1820.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  5 


Q 


Sbelbjville.  It  wasa  pretty  interesting  session.  The  sub- 
ject of  co-operating  with  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  in  sup- 
porting their  theological  seminary,  was  brought  before  them 
by  a  letter  from  that  Synod.  It  was  moved  to  postpone 
the  subject  indefinite^,  which  received  a  unanimous  and 
thundering  aye.  Mr.  Cameron  said,  he  'would  rather  go  to 
Princeton  on  foot.'  The  students  of  that  day,  as,  for  the 
most  part,  ever  since,  left  Princeton  with  a  grateful  sense 
of  the  advantages  they  had  enjoyed  there.  Mr.  McFar- 
land,  in  the  same  letter,  says,  'Remember  me  affectionately 
to  Mrs.  Miller  and  your  daughters,  and  to  that  dear  man, 
Dr.  Alexander.  I  hope  I  shall  never  cease  to  remember, 
with  gratitude,  not  only  your  public  instructions,  but  the 
many  marks  of  private  friendship  which  I  have  received 
from  you  both.'  To  the  same  effect  are  the  following  ac- 
knowledgments, in  behalf  of  his  son,  from  the  Rev.  Robert 
M.  Cunningham^  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  in  a  letter  of 
the  9th  of  May,  1821. 

'My  dear  Brother,  when  I  review  the  period  of  Joseph's  pro- 
bation for  the  gospel  ministry,  coming  to  a  close  under  your 
immediate  instructions  and  example,  and  those  of  our  beloved 
Dr.  Alexander,  I  desire  to  feel  thankful  to  the  Almighty  for 
the  wise  and  beneficent  arrangements  of  his  providence.  Per- 
mit me  to  say,  I  feel  peculiarly  grateful  to  you,  my  dear  Sir, 
and  others,  who  have  had  an  instrumentality  in  preparing  my 
son,  as  well  as  many  other  young  men,  for  the  holy  ministry. 
With  thousands,  I  feel  a  tender  solicitude  for  your  health,  and 
the  continuance  of  a  life  so  useful  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
particularly  that  branch,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  a 
member.' 

1  D.D.  from  1S27.     See  4  Sprague's  Annals,  58. 


CHAPTER     TWENTY-FIFTH. 

CORRESPONDENCE    AND     PUBLICATIONS, 

.     1820-1823. 


1.     Miscellaneous  Topics. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  B.  Wisner/  upon  leaving  the  Semi- 
nary in  Princeton,  was  settled  in  Boston  over  the  Old  South 
Church,  to  which  Dr.  Miller  had  strongly  recommended 
him.     Just  after  his  settlement,  the  latter  wrote  to  him, 

'My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  January  29th,  1821. 

'I  take  for  granted  you  are  now  in  Boston,  and  have  en- 
tered on  your  great  work  in  that  place.  My  prayer  is,  that  he 
who  (as  I  believe)  has  sent  you  thither,  will  support,  and  guide 
and  bless  you  there:  that  he  will  prepare  you  for  your  work, 
preside^  over  every  part  of  its  performance,  and  then  crown  it 
with  his  blessing.  You  occupy  many  of  my  thoughts ;  and  I 
hope  I  shall  be  enabled  often  to  remember  you,  in  my  nearest 
approaches  to  him  whose  friendship  is  the  best  portion. 

*I  have  long  thought  that  an  evangelical  minister,  in  Boston, 
ought  to  lay  much  more  stress,  and  to  place  unspeakably  more 
reliance,  on  the  efficacy  of  pure  truth,  and  the  promise  of  his 
God,  than  on  his  endeavors  to  cope  with  his  adversaries  with 
their  own  weapons— learning,  biblical  criticism,  and  eloquence. 
To  these  latter  I  am  not  an  enemy,  as  you  well  know ;  but  I 
believe  that  when  they  are  too  much  relied  upon,  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  will  frown  upon  such  confidence,  and  will 
make  his  servants  to  feel  and  acknowledge,  that  the  excellency 
of  the  power  is  of  himself,  and  not  of  them.  Under  this  im- 
pression, I  trust,  you  will  always  go  forth  to  meet  the  enemies 
of  the  truth  which  surround  you.  They  are  the  enemies,  the 
blasphemers  of  that  Saviour  in  whom  is  all  my  hope;  and, 
though  as  proud  and  as  powerful  as  Goliath,  yet,  if  they  are 
encountered  in  the  spirit  of  David,  there  is  infinitely  more  pros- 

1  D.D.  from  1828.     See  2  Sprague's  Annals,  682. 

54 


1821.]  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.  65 

pect  of  victory,  than  with  the  most  formidable  preparation, 
training,  and  array  of  carnal  warfare.  On  this  subject,  I  do 
not  merely  believe  myself  to  be  right ;  I  hioiv  it ;  and  you  know 
it  too ;  but,  Alas !  the  trouble  is  with  our  own  hearts ;  there, 
are  the  most  obstinate  and  ever  rising  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
going  forth  to  war  simply  and  humbly  in  the  strength  of  the 
Lord. 

'I  speak  of  warfare;  and  doubtless,' it  will  be  always  raging, 
either  openly  or  covertly.  But  there  is  a  thought  to  which  I 
wish  to  draw  your  particular  attention.  I  do  not  believe  that 
most  good  is  done  by  preaching  the  truth  in  a  controversial  way, 
even  when  that  preaching  is  of  the  most  consummately  able 
and  conclusive  sort.  There  is  something  in  the  polemical  form 
of  administering  truth,  which  appears  to  me  more  adapted  to 
operate  upon  the  intellect,  than  the  heart.  V/hen  a  preacher 
appears  before  his  audience  as  the  professed  logician,  the  pro- 
fessed oppugner  of  error,  I  suspect  they  will  all  be  apt,  in  spite 
of  themselves,  to  hear  him  with  more  or  less  of  a  similar  spirit ; 
to  feel  as  if  it  were  their  business  rather  to  sit  in  judgment  upon 
his  arguments,  than  simply  and  practically  to  enter  into  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  truth,  as  the  food  and  the  life  of  the  soul.  I  think 
you  will  often  find  yourself  called  upon  to  preach  in  a  contro- 
versial way ;  to  preach  unreservedly  and  professedly  against 
prevailing  error ;  but  I  think  the  great  body  of  your  preaching 
ought  not  to  be  of  that  kind ;  but  to  be  an  affectionate,  ani- 
mated, powerful  exhibition  of  truth  in  a  practical  way,  as  if  no 
particular  heresy  were  in  your  thoughts,  and  as  if  love  to  the 
truth  itself,  and  love  to  the  souls  of  those  whom  you  addressed, 
were  your  only  prompters.  If  you  are  enabled,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  to  gain  the  hearts  of  your  hearers,  everything  else  will 
follow  of  course.  Their  false  notions  will  give  way  without 
difficulty,  and  perhaps  a  little  the  more  readily,  if  they  are  not 
conscious  of  having  been  formally  overcome  in  argument. 

'Your  excellent  predecessor,  if  I  am  not  misinformed,  acted 
upon  the  plan  which  I  have  recommended ;  and  I  think  the 
eminent  usefulness  with  which  he  was  blessed  is  an  argument 
of  no  small  weight  in  its  favor.  The  congregation  have  long 
been  accustomed  to  a  mild,  didactic,  and  affectionate  mode  of 
preaching ;  and  I  verily  believe  it  to  be  the  best. 

'Are  you  aware,  my  dear  young  Brother,  that  the  climate  of 
Boston  is  a  trying  one,  and  that  young  men,  especially,  need 
admonition  and  frequent  warning  with  respect  to  the  care  of 
their  health  ?  I  entreat  you,  as  a  duty  you  owe  to  your  JNIas- 
ter,  to  pay  constant  and  sacred  attention  to  yours.  When  I 
was  in  Andover,  last  June,  I  asked  Professor  Stuart,  what 


56  MISCELLAJs^EOUS    TOPICS.  [CH.  25.  1. 

guard  he  had  adopted  against  the  rigors  of  an  eastern  climate. 
He  told  me  it  had  been  very  severe  upon  him ;  but  that  the 
best  defence  was  going  very  warm-clad.  This  was  his  great 
prophylactic,  and  he  had  found  the  effect  admirable.  Clothe 
yourself  warm,  then ;  do  not  breathe  the  cold  air,  after  speak- 
ing, more  than  you  can  help ;  and  do  not  allow  yourself  to  be 
prevailed  on  to  preach  when  you  are  sick.  The  Lord  be  with 
you  and  bless  you  !  Mstke  my  respectful  and  affectionate  salu- 
tations to  Mrs.  Wisner,  and  also  to  Mrs.  Huntington.  I  rejoice 
that  you  are  to  be  some  time  under  her  roof. 

'  Believe  me  to  be  yours  unfeignedly, 
'  Rev.  Mr.  Wisner.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

In  the  General  Assembly  of  1821,  the  subject  of  Free- 
masonry, upon  a  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh, 
was  discussed  at  considerable  length.  It  seems  to  have 
been  the  desire  of  some,  that  the  Assembly  should  declare 
Masonry  incompatible  v,-itli  Christianity,  and  connexion 
with  a  Masonic  lodge  a  sufficient  ground  for  exclusion  from 
the  church.  Dr.  Miller  took  the  floor  in  earnest  opposi- 
tion to  this  suggestion.  He  claimed,  as  himself  a  Mason, 
but  a  Mason  w^ho  had  not  entered  a  lodge  for  several  years, 
and  did  not  expect  to  enter  one  ever  again,  to  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  yet  to  be  a  measurably  im- 
partial witness. 

*I  will  not,  indeed,  Sir,'  he  said,  'insult  your  understanding 
so  far  as  to  contend,  as  some  have  done,  that  Masonry  is  the 
same  thing  with  Christianity — that  to  be  a  good  Mason  is  the 
same  thing  with  being  a  good  Christian.  But,  if  I  comprehend 
the  subject.  Masonry  is  an  institution,  which  embraces  indi- 
viduals of  all  ranks,  of  all  countries,  of  all  religions, — the  Jew, 
the  Mohammedan,  the  Christian, — and  binds  them  to  acts  of 
mutual  benevolence,  by  an  initiation  into  certain  mysterious 
rites,  and  by  the  communication  of  certain  signs  and  words, 
which  enable  members  of  the  institution  to  recognize  each 
other.  *  *  It  may  be  perverted ;  it  may  be  abused  ;  but, 
considering  its  original  nature  and  design,  I  think  we  ought  to 
be  very  far  from  pronouncing  it  that  odious  and  abominable 
thing  which  many  are  fond  of  representing  it.' 

The  Seminary  was  now  upon  the  whole  prospering :  its 
pupils,  during  the  Summer  session  of  1821,  reached  the 
number  of  seventy-six. 

Of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  Dr.  Miller  was  made  a  corporate  memb?r  as  early 


1821.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  57 

as  about  1812,  or  1813.     His  interest  in  its  affairs  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  letter: — 

'My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  (N.  J.,)  September  6,  1821. 

'  It  has  been  my  earnest  desire,  for  a  number  of  years 
past,  to  attend  the  annual  meetings  of  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions;  but  my  public  engage- 
ments have  always  rendered  it  impracticable.  The  ensuing 
annual  meeting  will  happen  at  the  very  time  of  our  public  ex- 
amination, from  which,  I  need  not  say,  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  think  of  being  absent,  as  it  is  aiw^ays  conducted  by  the  Pro- 
fessors of  the  Seminary. 

'But  I  do  not  think  it  proper  that  I  should  be  a  pecuniary 
gainer  by  staying  at  home.  And  as  the  journey,  probably, 
could  not  be  accomplished  for  less  than  $30, 1  inclose  that  sum 
as  an  humble  offering  to  the  Lord,  in  lieu  of  my  personal  pres- 
ence. It  is  worth  far  more  than  my  presence ;  and  may  the 
blessing  of  our  common  and  most  blessed  Master  go  with  it! 

'  When  I  reflect,  my  dear  Brother  in  Christ,  what  a  loss, 
(speaking  in  the  language  of  man,)  not  only  our  Board,  but 
also  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  in  this  w^estern  hemisphere,  and 
indeed  throughout  the  world,  have  experienced  in  the  death  of 
the  ever  to  be  lamented  and  revered  Brother  Worcester,  I  feel 
as  if  we  were  all  solemnly  called  upon  to  double  our  diligence, 
and  try  to  make  our  devotedness  to  the  King  of  Zion  more 
unreserved  than  ever.  In  pondering  on  the  departure  of  such 
a  man, — a  man  of  so  much  piety,  prudence,  wisdom,  diligence, 
and  holy  consecration  to  the  cause  of  Missions, — a  man  who 
mingled  so  much  mildness,  inoffensiveness  and  dignity,  with  so 
much  discernment,  enterprize,  and  martyr-like  firmness  and 
constancy, — I  am  sometimes  ready  to  ask  who  shall  stand  up 
in  his  room.  But  I  check  myself.  The  Lord,  in  whose  cause 
he  died,  loves  that  cause,  and  knows  how  to  estimate  the  value 
of  his  servants,  infinitely  better  than  any  of  us.  To  his  wisdom, 
his  love,  and  his  covenant  faithfulness  let  us  humbly  commit 
it ;  and  resolve,  each  one  for  himself,  whatever  may  occur,  to 
be,  by  the  grace  of  God,  found  faithful. 

'Have  the  goodness,  if  you  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
to  communicate  to  them  my  reason  for  not  being  present;  and 
also  my  affectionate  and  most  respectful  sympathy,  on  occasion 
of  the  removal  of  another  beloved  and  highly  valued  Associate. 

'  May  the  Lord  preside  in  your  counsels,  and  direct  all  your 
measures ! 

'  I  am,  dear  Sir,  with  great  regard,  your  friend  and  fellow 
servant  in  Christ, 

'Jeremiah  Evarts,  Esquire.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

Vol.  II.— 6. 


58  COHRESPONDENCE  AND    PUBLICATIONS.    [CH.  25.  2. 

To  the  Rev.  William  B.  Sprague,  Dr.  Miller  wrote,  on 
the  3d  of  October,  1821, 

'  But  hoAV  shall  I  address  you,  my  dear  young  Brother,  re- 
specting your  conjugal  loss? — a  loss  in  the  view  of  man  alto- 
gether irreparable,  but  not  so  with  God.  He  can  more  than 
make  it  up.  May  he  give  you  true  and  continued  submission ; 
and,  as  your  feelings  of  sorrow  on  the  subject  become  more 
calm  and  mellowed,  may  they  be  more  and  more  connected  with 
that  deep,  sanctified  use  of  the  dispensation,  which  will  render 
it  a  blessing  through  the  whole  of  your  subsequent  course. 

'Since  I  received  your  letter,  I  have  been  in  the  utmost 
hazard  of  losing  my  ow^n  beloved  companion.  *  *  But  the 
Lord  was  pleased,  while  he  took  the  child,  to  spare  the  mother. 
Blessed  be  his  holy  name !  May  this  sparing  mercy  make  an 
indelible  impression  on  my  poor,  cold,  stupid  heart! 

'  My  dear  young  Brother,  you  have  the  unfailing  promise  of 
your  covenant  God,  that  he  will  make  all  things  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  love  him.  And  if  the  bereaving  dispen- 
sation by  which  he  has  been  pleased  to  take  away  the  desire  of 
your  eyes,  should  be  the  means  of  drawing  you  nearer,  and  keep- 
ing you  nearer,  to  himself;  causing  you  to  take  deeper,  clearer, 
and  more  practical  views  of  truth;  making  you  more  spiritual, 
disinterested,  and  devoted;  and,  in  short,  preparing  you  for 
more  eminent  service  in  his  church ;  you  will  then  be  able  with 
emphasis,  to  apply  the  promise  to  yourself,  and  to  say.  It  was 
good  for  me  to  be  afflicted.  God  grant  that  you  may  realize 
all  the  preciousne^s  of  this  experience ! ' 

2.     Ordination  of  the  Rev.  William  Nevins. 

It  is  proper,  at  this  point,  to  recur  to  events  of  nearly  a 
year  previous  to  the  time  reached  in  the  foregoing  narra- 
tive. The  mention  of  them  has  been  delayed,  that  it  might 
now  place  them  in  a  more  fitting  connexion. 

In  1820,  Dr.  Miller  was  invited  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Baltimore,  to  preach  at  the  ordination  and  installation  of 
the  Rev.  William  Nevins,^  an  alumnus  of  the  Seminary,  as 
pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  city.  This 
service  was  performed,  and  the  sermon,  by  request  of  the 
presbytery,  and  also  of  the  session  and  trustees  of  the  First 
Church,    was   published.^     Among    "the    difficulties    and 

1  D.D.  from  1834.     See  4  Pprague's  Annals,  029. 

"•The  Difficulties  and  Temptations  which  attend  the  Preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  Great  Cities :  A  Sermon  preached  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  in 
the  City  of  Baltimore.  October  19,  1820;  at  the  Ordination  and  Installation  of 


1821.]      ORDINATION  OF  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  NEVINS.  59 

temptations  -".vhicli  attend  the  preacliinfy  of  the  gospel  in 
great  cities,"  Dr.  Miller  mentions  "the  refinements  of 
philosophy  falsely  so  called,"  and  the  prevailing  taste  for 
"smooth  and  superficial  preaching."  Under  these  heads 
he  includes  some  reflections  upon  Socinianism,  under  the 
latter,  remarking, 

"In  the  great  cities  of  the  Roman  Emph'e  began  that  cleri- 
cal ambition,  which  invaded  the  primitive  parity  of  gospel  min- 
isters, and  which  finally  issued  in  the  Papal  usurpation.  In 
great  cities,  likewise,  or,  at  least,  in  states  of  society  similar  to 
what  is  commonly  found  in  such  places,  has  generally  com- 
menced that  fatal  decline  from  orthodoxy,  which  began,  per- 
haps, with  calling  in  question  some  of  what  are  styled  the  more 
rigid  peculiarities  of  received  creeds,  and  ended  in  embracing 
the  dreadful,  soul-destroying  errors  of  Arius  or  Sochius.'^  We 
might  easily  illustrate  and  confirm  this  position,  by  examples 
drawn  from  our  own  country,  had  we  time  to  trace  the  history 
of  several  sects  among  us,  and  especially  of  American  Unita- 
rianism.  But  I  forbear  to  pursue  the  illustration  farther ;  and 
shall  only  take  the  liberty  to  ask,  as  I  pass  along — How  is  it 
to  be  accounted  for,  that  the  preaching  of  those  who  deny  the 
Divinity  and  Atonement  of  the  Saviour,  and  who  reject  the 
doctrines  of  Human  Depravity,  of  Regeneration,  and  of  Justi- 
fication by  the  righteousness  of  Christ — How,  I  ask,  is  it  to  be 

the  Reverend  William  Nevins,  as  Pastor  of  said  Church.  By  Samuel  Miller, 
D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government,  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  the  Presbj'terian  Church  in  the  United  States,  at  Prince- 
ton.    Baltimore  :  1820."— Romans  i.  15,  16.— 8vo.     Pp.  43. 

«-;•:•  The  above  language,  concerning  the  destructive  nature  of  the  An'an  and 
Socininn  heresies,  has  not  been  adopted  lightly  ;  but  is  the  result  of  serious  de- 
liberation, and  deep  conviction.  And  in  conformity  with  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  Author  cannot  forbear  to  notice  and  record  a  declaration  made  to 
himself,  by  the  late  Dr.  Priestley,  two  or  three  years  before  the  decease  of  that 
distinguished  Unitarian.  The  conversitioa  was  a  free  and  amicable  one  on 
some  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  religion.  In  rei>ly  to  a  direct  avowal,  on 
the  part  of  the  Author,  that  he  was  a  Trinliarinn  and  a  Cnlinnint,  Dr.  Pn'eitlei/ 
said — "  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  Calvinists  enterta'n  and  express  a  strongly 
unfavorable  opinion  of  us  Unitarians.  The  truth  is,  there  neither  can,  nor 
ought  to  be.  any  compromise  between  us.  If  yon  are  right,  wa  are  not 
CHRISTIANS  AT  ALL :  and  if  we  are  right,  you  ark  oross  idolaters."  These 
were,  as  nearly  as  can  be  recollected,  the  words,  and,  most  accurately,  the  sub- 
stance of  his  remark.  And  nothing,  certainly,  can  be  more  just.  Between 
those  who  believe  in  the  Divinity  and  Atonement  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  those 
who  entirely  reject  both,  "there  i<s  a  fjrcat  (jnlph  fixed,"  which  precludes  all 
ecclesiastical  intercourse.  The  former  m\\  greatly  respect  and  love  the  lat- 
ter, on  account  of  other  qualities  and  attainments;  but  certainly  cannot  regard 
them  as  christians,  in  any  correct  sense  of  the  word:  or  as  an}-  more  in  the 
way  of  salvation  than  Mohammedans  or  Jeics.''^ 

iPp.  20,  21. 


60  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.    [ciI.  25.   2. 

accounted  for,  that  such  preachers,  all  over  the  world,  are  most 
acceptable  to  the  gay,  the  fashionable,  the  worldly  minded,  and 
even  the  licentious  ?  That  so  many  embrace  and  eulogize  their 
system,  without  being,  in  the  smallest  perceptible  degree,  sanc- 
tified by  it  ?  That  thousands  are  in  love  with  it,  and  praise  it ; 
but  that  we  look  in  vain  for  the  monuments  of  its  reforming  and 
purifying  power  ?  I  will  not  pretend  to  answer  these  questions  ; 
but  leave  them  to  the  consciences  of  those  who  believe,  that  the 
genuine  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  always  have  had,  and  always 
will  have,  a  tendency  to  promote  holiness  of  heart  and  of  life ; 
and  that  we  must  all  speedily  appear  before  the  judgynent  seat  of 
Christy 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  this  sermon,  an  anonymous 
writer,  styling  himself  "A  Unitarian  of  Baltimore,"  sup- 
posed to  be  the  Rev.  Jared  Sparks,  recently  settled  there, 
reviewed  it  harshly,  not  to  say  scurrilously,  and  at  length, 
in  "The  Unitarian  Miscellany,  a  monthly  magazine  issued 
in  Boston,  extensively  circulated,  and  said  to  be  the  most 
popular  periodical  belonging  to  the  denomination.  The 
review  accused  Dr.  Miller  of  having,  among  other  offences, 
seized  upon  a  very  unsuitable  occasion  to  deliver  his  sen- 
timents ;  denied  that  Unitarians  were  Christians ;  and 
charged  upon  them  immorality  and  licentiousness.  A  re- 
ply offered  for  insertion  in  the  "Miscellany,"  but  refused 
a  place,  was  published  by  Dr.  Miller,  in  Baltimore,  in  the 
spring  of  1821.^  In  this  he  justifies  his  choice  of  an  occa- 
sion, and  his  deliberate  exclusion  of  Unitarians  from  all 
right  to  the  name  of  Christians ;  while  he  denies  havTng 
impeached  their  morality,  or  failed  of  a  becoming  charity 
towards  them ;  and  defends  Locke  and  Watts  from  the 
charge  of  being  Unitarians. 

In  writing  to  the  Rev.  B.  B.  Wisner  of  Boston,  on  the 
23d  of  April,  he  says, 

'I  should  have  made  this  "Letter"  much  longer  and  fuller, 
as  to  several  topics,  if  I  had  not  intended  it  originally  for  in- 
sertion in  "  The  Unitarian  Miscellany,"  of  Baltimore.  Finding 
it  rejected  there,  I  thought  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  make 
it  an  essentially  different  thing,  when  published  in  pamphlet 
form.  I  considered  it  best,  therefore,  on  the  whole,  to  print 
it  substantially  as  the  editor  of  that  work  had  first  seen  it.' 

^  "A  Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Unitarian  Miscellany,  in  reply  to  an  Attack, 
by  an  Anonymous  Writer  in  that  Work,  on  a  late  Ordination  Sermon  delivered 
in  Baltimore.     By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Author  of  the  Sermon.     Baltimore  : 

»     *     1821."— Svo.     Pp.34. 


1822.]  ^'letters  on  unitarianism."  _6.1 

3.    "  Letters  on  Unitarianism." 

The  course  of  the  controversy  thus  commenced  led  Dr. 
Miller  to  publish,  in  1821,  "Letters  on  LTnitarianism."^ 
Ilis  own  words  will  best  explain  the  reasons  for  this  work 
which  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Nevins's  Church. 

"  A  train  of  events,  as  unexpected  as  unsought  by  me,  has 
led  to  the  present  publication.  When,  in  the  course  of  the  last 
year,  my  ardent  desire  to  promote  your  welfare,  and  my  affec- 
tionate respect  for  your  young  Pastor,  prompted  me  to  consent, 
on  the  day  of  his  Ordination,  to  address  you  from  the  pulpit, 
I  little  thought  that  obloquy  and  controversy  were  to  result 
from  the  service  of  that  day.  But  so  it  has  happened.  Some 
of  your  Unitarian  neighbors  have  deemed  it  proper  to  make 
me  an  object  of  repeated  attack,  and  my  sermon  on  that  occa- 
sion a  subject  of  protracted  and  tedious  discussion.  I  have 
seldom  been  more  surprised  than  to  find,  that  a  few  plain  sen- 
tences, w^hich  were  delivered  under  the  impression  that  they 
contained  nothing  more  than  was  universally  understood  to  be 
the  sentiments  of  the  Orthodox,  should  give  such  deep  offence, 
and  lead  to  so  much  wastQ  of  ink  and  paper.  Nor  can  I  yet 
account  for  the  fact,  but  by  supposing  that  the  Unitarians  in 
the  United  States  are  determined  to  make  the  experiment, 
whether  they  can  write  themselves  into  notice  and  importance; 
and  in  prosecuting  this  experiment,  resolve  to  let  nothing,  how- 
ever trivial,  escape  their  animadversion.  If  this  be  their  plan, 
I  make  no  complaint  of  its  operation  on  me.  I  am  not  certain 
that  anything  which  has  occurred  is  to  be,  for  a  moment,  re- 
gretted. On  the  contrary,  a  consciousness  of  having  done  my 
duty  has  cheered  me  in  the  past ;  and,  if  the  following  pages 
should  prove  in  any  degree  useful  to  you  or  your  Children,  I 
shall  have  reason  unfeignedly  to  rejoice  in  what  was,  in  itself, 
by  no  means  desirable  to  a  lover  of  peace." 

After  disclaiming  all  intention  of  opening  the  account 
before  finally  closed  with  "A  Unitarian  of  Baltimore," 
w4io  had  conducted  his  recent  "  attacks  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  render  defence  altogether  unnecessary,"  Dr.  Miller 
went  on  to  say, 

"  My  object  in  writing  at  j^resent  is  your  benefit.  It  is  to  put 
you  on  your  guard  against  a  system  of  error,  which  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  considering  as  the  most  delusive  and  dangerous  of 

^  "Letters  on  Unitariaoism  :  aiklressed  to  the  Members  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  City  of  Baltimore.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor 
of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government,  in  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  at  Princeton." — 8vo.,  pp.  312. 


62  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.    [CH.  25.  3. 

all  that  have  ever  assumed  the  Christian  name.  This  system 
its  advocates,  in  your  neighborhood,  are  endeavoring  to  recom- 
mend and  establish  with  a  zeal  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  From 
the  pulpit  and  the  press,  by  the  formal  volume,  the  humble 
pamphlet,  and  every  variety  of  exhibition  that  ingenuity  can 
devise,  they  are  endeavoring  to  make  an  impression  on  the 
public  mind.  *  *  Probably  in  no  part  of  our  country,  out 
of  Massachusetts,  do  these  poisoned  agents  so  completely  fill  the 
air,  or,  like  one  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  so  noisomely  ''come 
up  into  your  houses,  your  chambers,  and  your  kneading-troughs," 
as  in  Baltimore.  *  "^  Now,  though  I  have  no  fear  of  the  in- 
fluence of  all  this  on  the  minds  of  those  who  read  and  think, 
and  inquire  and  pray ;  yet  there  may  be  others  to  whom  an 
antidote  is  not  wholly  unnecessary.  The  sagacious  and  elo- 
quent Mr.  Burke  has  somewhere  said,  "Let  us  only  suffer  any 
person,  however  manifestly  he  may  be  in  the  wroug,  to  tell  us 
his  story,  morning  and  evening,  but  for  one  twelve-month,  and 
he  will  be  our  master."  *  *  The  young  and  inexperienced, 
who  are  not  aware  of  the  insidious  arts  of  error;  the  busy,  w^ho 
have  but  little  taste  for  reading,  and  little  time  or  disposition 
for  profound  reflection  ;  the  amiable,  who  are  ready  to  look 
with  a  partial  eye  on  every  serious  and  plausible  claim  ;  and 
the  gay  and  worldly,  who  are  predisposed  in  favor  of  an  indul- 
gent system  ; — all  these,  when  frequently  assailed  by  the  zeal- 
ous, the  confident,  and  the  talkative  patrons  of  heresy,  will  be 
peculiarly  liable  to  be  unduly  impressed  in  their  favor.  When 
they  every  day  hear  individuals,  and  every  day  meet  with 
pamphlets,  which,  on  the  one  hand,  in  the  most  triumphant 
tone,  praise  the  Unitarian  system,  as  the  only  enlightened, 
liberal,  benevolent,  and  rational  system,  and  its  adherents  as 
decisively  the  most  learned,  amiable,  and  pious  friends  of  truth 
and  candid  inquiry  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  stigmatize  its  op- 
ponents, as  narrow-minded,  prejudiced,  austere,  righteous  over 
much,  and  enemies  of  liberal  thinking ; — when  they  find  these 
representations  made  every  day,  and  repeated  without  contra- 
diction, they  will  be  apt  at  length  to  believe  them."^ 

The  Rev.  Elisha  P.  Swift,  D.  D.,  of  Pittsburgh,  wrote  to 
Dr.  Miller,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1822, 

'I  have  seen  one  or  two  of  the  uncivil  and  insolent  letters 
addressed  to  you  in  the  Unitarian  Miscellany,  but  have  not 
been  able  to  possess  myself  of  your  sermon  or  the  reply.  If  the 
style  and  spirit  of  that  publication  are  a  specimen  of  the  civility 
and  charity  of  which  those  zealous  and  deluded  gentlemen  have 

1  Letters  on  Unitarianisra,  9-14. 


1822.]  "letters  on  u:<itarianism."  63 

so  repeatedly  and  proudly  boasted,  the  thinking  part  of  the 
community  will  not  be  long  in  learning  how  to  appreciate  those 
professions  to  which  much  of  their  success  is  to  be  ascribed.' 

Writing  to   Mr.    Wisner,  on    the   2d  of  February,    Dr. 
Miller  said, 

*  In  this  work,  some  of  my  friends  here  are  almost  afraid  that 
I  have  gone  too  far.  The  majority  however  seem  to  be  of  a 
different  opinion,  and  that  it  was  high  time  to  take,  without 
hesitation,  the  ground  that  I  have  taken.  How  it  may  suit  the 
meridian  of  Boston,  I  know  not.  I  can  only  say,  that  I  am 
honest  in  the  convictions  I  have  expressed,  and  that,  if  they  be 
just,  there  is  certainly  no  room  for  half-way,  or  temporizing 
measures.' 

These  letters  were  praised  by  Trinitarians,  and,  of 
course,  were  assailed  vigorously  by  those  whose  error  they 
exposed.  The  Rev.  James  Taylor,  pastor  of  the  Unitarian 
church  in  Philadelphia,  after  preaching,  indirectly,  against 
the  work  and  its  author,  was  wrought  up  to  the  pitch  of 
writing  to  Dr.  Miller,  and,  after  quoting  from  Dr.  Priest- 
ley a  passage  referred  to  in  the  letters,  demanding  a  re- 
traction. 

*  Unwilling,'  he  says,  'to  believe,  that  you  made  the  assertion, 
that  Dr.  Priestley,  in  his  memoirs,  speaks  of  what  the  orthodox 
regard  as  exercises  of  experimental  piety,  in  a  manner  expres- 
sive of  both  contempt  and  horror,  w^ith  a  full  knowledge  of  what 
he  had  actually  written,  I  have  transcribed  the  whole  passage, 
that  you  may  perceive  the  propriety,  not  only  of  authorizing 
me,  in  your  name,  to  retract  what  you  have  unwarrantably  as- 
serted to  the  dishonor  of  his  memory,  but  also  of  yourself  giving 
equal  publicity  to  that  retraction  as  you  have  done  to  the  work 
in  which  the  passage  quoted  by  me  has  a  place.  Allow  me  to 
say,  that  this  appears  necessary,  as  w^ell  for  your  own  exculpa- 
tion from  what  might  subject  you  to  a  very  serious  charge,  as 
in  justice  to  a  man  who  never  indulged  himself,  or  counte- 
nanced others,  in  ridiculing  serious  persons,  or  things  of  a 
serious  nature.' 

To  this  very  polite  and  modest  request,  Dr.  Miller  re- 
turned the  following  answer:  — 

'Sir,  ,  'Princeton,  February  4,  1822. 

'Your  letter  of  the  1st  reached  me  on  Saturday  evening.  I 
perused  it  with  no  small  degree  of  surprise;  for,  although  I  am 
aware  how  exceedingly  partial  and  prejudiced  most  persons  are 
apt  to  be  with  respect  to  their  own  cause;  and  although  I  wish 


64  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.     [CH.  25.  3. 

never  to  forget  how  liable  I  am  myself,  in  common  with  others, 
to  this  partiality  anvi  prejudice;  yet  I  certainly  did  not  expect 
to  find,  in  an  intelligent  reader  of  my  little  work,  such  a  singu- 
lar misconception  as  your  letter  presents.  Amidst  the  multi- 
plicity of  citations  and  references  which  the  work  contains,  it 
would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  some  mistakes  should  not  be  dis- 
covered. These,  I  trust,  I  shall  always  be  ready  candidly  to 
correct.  But  the  passage  to  which  you  refer  is  not,  unless  I  am 
deceived,  one  of  this  description. 

'You  are  wrong  in  supposing,  that,  when  I  wrote  the  sentence 
on  paga  259,  "  I  had  not  a  full  knowledge  of  what  Dr.  Priestley 
had  actually  written,"  in  the  place  referred  to  inhis  "Memoirs." 
I  knew  it  well.  I  had  the  book  before  me,  and  made  no  more 
of  the  passage  than  what  I  then,  conscientiously  thought,  and 
still  conscientiously  think,  both  its  spirit  and  its  letter  warrant- 
ed. What  does  J3r.  Priestley  say  ?  If  in  the  paragraph  be- 
ginning on  page  seven,  and  extending  to  page  eight,  which  you 
have  transcribed,  he  does  not  speak  disrespectfully,  and  even 
sneeringly  of  those  experiences  and  that  new  birth,  which  he 
acknowledges,  and  which  you  know,  the  Orthodox  consider 
as  "  necessary  to  salvation ; "  if  he  does  not  say,  that  he  "  looked 
back  with  horror,"  upon  those  experiences  of  his  own  mind 
which  he,  doubtless,  thought  the  same  in  kind  with  those  which 
the  Orthodox  respect  and  encourage ;  if  he  does  not  distinctly 
intimate,  that  he  considered  these  "  conflicts  of  mind  "  as  flow- 
ing from  a  state  of  "  ignorance  and  darkness ; "  that  they  indi- 
cated pitiable  weakness  and  error;  that  more  "rational  princi- 
ples of  religion"  would  have  prevented  them;  and  that  such 
things  are,  of  course,  "  irrational,"  fanatical  and  delusive — I 
say,  if  all  this  is  not  distinctly  intimated  in  the  paragraphs  in 
question;  then  I  know  not  how  to  interpret  language,  or  how 
to  gather  the  spirit  of  any  page  in  any  book.  And,  if  all  this 
be  intimated,  then  is  nothing  contemptuous  implied  in  it?  Is 
it  going  too  far  to  say,  that  he  speaks  of  the  exercises  alluded 
to  with  contempt  and  horror  f  I  freely  grant,  indeed,  that  the 
language  of  l3r.  Priestly,  which  you  quote,  is  susceptible  of  a 
less  offensive  construction ;  but,  when  it  is  viewed  in  connexion 
with  Vv^hat  follows,  at  the  bottom  of  the  8th  page,  and  especially 
in  connexion  with  his  known  and  avowed  sentiments,  and  those 
of  Unitarians  generally  on  this  subject;  I  do  sincerely  think, 
that  I  have  expressed,  in  a  single  sentence,  neither  more  nor 
less  than  the  plain  natural  meaning  of  the  whole  taken 
together. 

*  Such  being  my  impression,  you  will  perceive  that  I  consider 
myself  as  having  no  reason  either  to  authorize  you,  or  to  under- 


1822.]  "letters  on  unitarianism/'  65 

take  myself,  to  make  the  public  retraction  you  speak  of.  If 
Dr.  Priestly  himself  were  alive,  I  am  persuaded  he  would  think 
that  I  had  done  no  violence  to  his  meaning,  and  that,  conse- 
quently, no  apology  or  explanation  was  necessary.  I  have  none 
to  make ;  and,  therefore,  while  my  present  convictions  remain, 
shall  make  none. 

'It is  no  way  inconsistent,  in  my  opinion,  with  all  this,  that 
Dr.  Priestley  speaks,  in  "highly  respectful  terms,"  of  his  "ex- 
cellent aunt,"  and  of  other  Orthodox  people.  That  this  truly 
eminent  man  abhorred  Calvinism ;  that  he  thought  it  an  "  irra- 
tional "  and  most  pestiferous  system ;  and  that  he,  of  course, 
could  not  fail  to  regard  it  with  feelings,  which,  without  injustice, 
might  be  called  those  of  contempt  and  horror ,  I  presume  no  one 
doubts.  At  least,  if  you  do,  I  take  for  granted  that  you  are 
the  only  man,  who  has  read  his  writings,  that  does.  Yet  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge,  in  his  memoirs  of  himself, 
that  he  derived  some  benefit  from  his  Calvinistic  education ; 
just  as  I  suppose  he  would  acknowledge,  that  men  derive  bene- 
fit, every  day,  from  things  in  themselves  exceedingly  evil. 
And  my  belief  is,  that  the  serious  and  devotional  cast  of  mind, 
which  he  is  generally  acknowledged  to  have  possessed,  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  this  very  cause.  Indeed,  he  appears  to  me  him- 
self, implicitly,  to  admit  the  fact. 

'  I  have  only  one  more  remark  to  make  on  this  subject.  If 
I  understand  the  scope  of  your  letter,  it  is  not  merely  to  repel 
the  alleged  injury  to  Dr.  Priestley,  but  also  to  repel,  as  unjust, 
my  general  charge,  "that  what  the  Orthodox  regard  as  exer- 
cises of  experimental  piety  are  ridiculed  by  the  great  body  of 
Unitarians  as  fanatical  and  delusive."  If  this  be  not  the  scope 
of  your  letter,  I  have  mistaken  it.  But  are  you  willing  to  say 
that  my  charge  is  unjust?  It  cannot  be.  I  have  always  given 
you  credit  for  entire  honesty  in  acting  and  speaking  agreeably 
to  the  convictions  of  your  own  mind ;  and  I  am  still  unfeignedly 
disposed  to  do  so.  But,  really  how  to  dispose  of  this  letter,  if, 
I  construe  it  rightly,  I  acknowledge  staggers  me.  What!  can 
those  who  utterly  reject,  as  irrational,  absurd  and  impious,  the 
doctrines  of  Original  Sin,  Regeneration,  Justification  by  the 
imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  other  parts  of  the  same  system,  as  held  by  the  Or- 
thodox— can  they  possibly  view  otherwise  than  as  fanatical, 
delusive,  and  worthy,  not  only  of  ridicule,  but  of  something 
worse,  those  exercises  which  are  founded  upon  these  doctrines, 
and  which  are  ind!issolubly  connected  wnth  a  cordial  and  prac- 
tical reception  of  them  ?  Do  not  Unitarians  generally  regard 
these  exercises  as  both  weak  and  pernicious,  and  glory  in  hav- 


66  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    PUBLICATIONS.    [CH.  25.  3. 

ing  more  rational  views  of  Christianity  ?  Dr.  Priestley,  who 
was,  in  general,  a  remarkably  candid  man,  I  am  sure  would 
not  have  scrupled  to  acknowledge  all  this :  Nay,  I  think  he 
does  acknowledge  it  in  a  number  of  instances.  What,  then, 
must  I  think  of  some  recent  attempts,  on  the  part  of  Unitarian 
writers,  to  persuade  the  public,  that  the  exercises  of  experimen- 
tal piety  in  question,  as  believed  in  by  the  Orthodox,  are  7iot 
rejected  by  Unitarians.  It  may  be  all  entirely  honest  and  can- 
did on  the  part  of  those  who  make  such  attempts  ;  but  I  ac- 
knowledge I  cannot  see  how  it  is  to  be  reconciled  with  probity. 

*  I  have  thus  thought  proper,  my  dear  Sir,  to  give,  not  only  a 
respectful,  but  an  extended  answer  to  your  letter.  I  am  con- 
strained to  say,  however,  that  I  have  no  wish  to  continue  this 
correspondence.  I  remember,  with  pleasure,  our  former  social 
intercourse,  and  by  no  means  forget,  that  I  am  indebted  to  you 
for  the  very  copy  of  Dr.  Priestley's  Memoirs,  to  which  I  referred 
in  the  sentence  you  criticise.  I  have  forborne,  for  several  years, 
to  continue  this  intercourse,  not  because  I  ceased  to  respect 
you  as  a  gentleman,  but  from  a  conscientious  persuasion,  that, 
to  one  holding  my  principles,  and  placed  in  my  situation,  such 
intercourse  was,  on  the  whole,  unprofitable  and  embarrassing. 
The  more  I  became  acquainted  with  your  sentiments,  the  more 
corrupt  and  mischievous  they  appeared  to  me.  If  you  have 
any  further  inquiries  or  explanations  to  make  on  this  subject,  I 
shall  certainly  be  disposed  to  treat  them  with  respectful  atten- 
tion. But  I  am  a  busy  man,  and  all  correspondence  of  this 
kind  is,  to  me,  j^eculiarly  irksome.  I  view  you  as  a  man  hon- 
estly pursuing  a  course  which  tends,  to  the  extent  of  your  in- 
fluence, to  the  eternal  destruction  of  your  fellow-creatures.  You, 
no  doubt,  view  me  as  laboring  for  the  support  of  mischievous 
error.  Let  us  pray  for  one  another,  and  await  the  trial  of  the 
great  day!  I  am,  Sir,  yours  very  respectfully, 

'  Mr.  James  Taylor.  Sam'l  Miller.* 

With  a  copy  of  the  work,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  Miss  Edge- 
worth,  who  was  regarded  as  a  Unitarian  in  sentiment, 
'  Madam,  Princeton,  February  18th,  1822. 

*  At  the  instance  of  your  correspondent,  ]\Irs.  Griffith,  whose 
requests  I  cannot  lightly  reject,  I  venture  to  send  the  volume 
which  accompanies  this  letter,  and  most  respectfully  to  beg,  that 
you  will  do  me  the  honor  to  accept  of  it. 

'  Had  I  not  been  thus  prompted  from  so  respectable  a  quarter, 

I  certainly  should  not  have  taken  this  liberty — for  two  reasons. 

^ '  The  first  is,  that  I  am  sensible  that  a  total  stranger,  in  a 

distant  country,  of  even  whose  name  you  have  never  heard,  has 

no  right  to  make  such  a  draught  on  your  time  and  attention. 


1822.] 


"letters  on  unitariaxism."  67 


*  My  second  reason  is  one  which  I  have  more  hesitation  in 
mentioning,  but  which,  as  I  am  an  old  fashioned  man,  not  very 
young  in  years,  and  accustomed  to  a  candid  expression  of  my 
feelings,  I  will  not  conceal.  It  is  founded  on  a  lurking  doubt, 
vrhether  my  book  will  be  found  entirely  agreeable  to  your  theo- 
logical views.  I  have  a  large  family  of  children,  some  of  the 
eldest  of  whom  have  nearly  reached  adult  age.  Your  works 
have  been  to  several  of  them  familiar  companions,  and  sources 
of  entertainment  and  instruction,  for  a  number  of  years.  Will 
you  forgive  me  for  saying,  that,  when  I  have  looked  into  these 
works,  which  has  not  been  seldom,  I  have  been  constrained  to 
fear,  not  from  anything  w^hich  you  have  said,  but  from  what 
you  have  not  said,  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has  not  ex- 
actly the  same  aspect  to  your  mind  that  it  has  to  mine,  either  as 
to  its  essential  characteristics,  or  its  infinite  importance.  '"Oh,' 
what  would  I  give,"  I  have  often  said  to  myself,  "  if  these  fine 
talents,  this  deep  acquaintance  with  human  nature,  this  ad- 
mirable taste  in  writing,  were  more  plainly  and  thoroughly 
consecrated  to  the  eternal  welfare,  as  well  as  to  the  temporal 
accomplishments,  of  those  whom  they  reach  and  fascinate!" 

'  For  this  reserve  on  the  subject  of  religion,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  you  have  reasons  which  satisfy  yourself.  But  they  will 
not  be  likely  to  satisty  your  warm  admirers  and  constant  readers. 
Indeed  I  am  compelled  to  doubt,  whether,  in  ordinary  circum- 
stances, any  reasons  can  justify  it.  Only  assume,  as  I  must 
assume,  that  religion  is  infinitely  the  most  important  subject 
that  can  be  presented  to  the  hulnan  mind ;  and  that,  when 
rightly  understood,  and  practically  embraced,  it  is  infinitely  the 
most  operative  both  on  character  and  happiness ;  and  every- 
thing that  I  contend  for  seems  to  follow  of  course. 

'  I  have  often  wished  for  an  opportunity  of  telling  you  all 
this ;  but  supposed  it  utterly  improbable  I  should  ever  have  one. 
Mrs.  Griffith,  by  her  polite  request,  has,  most  unexpectedly, 
put  it  in  my  power  to  approach  you — I  hope  without  incurring 
the  charge  of  offensive  intrusion.  Am  I  presumptuous  in  avail- 
ing myself  of  such  an  occasion  to  unfold  to  you  my  whole  heart? 
Those  who  contribute  so  much  as  you  do,  to  regulate  opinion, 
and  to  form  character,  must  not  be  surprised,  if  their  very  emi- 
nence should  sometimes  excite  the  zeal  of  the  warm  friends  of 
human  happiness,  to  devise  plans  for  rendering  that  eminence 
still  more  beneficial,  and  their  general  influence  more  benign. 

*  But,  however  we  may  differ  on  this  subject,  (and  perhaps 
our  difference  is  less  than  I  apprehend,)  I  am  happy  in  an  op- 
portunity of  assuring  you  of  the  profound  respect,  with  which 
I  am,  Madam,  Your  obedient  servant, 

'Miss  Edsreworth.  Sam'l  Miller.' 


68  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.     [CH.  25.  4. 

Of  this  work  a  writer  in  "  The  Washington  Theological 
Repertory,"  ''  Edited  by  the  Clergy  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  District  of  Columbia,"  said, 

It  "  deserves  for  its  learned  author  the  thanks  of  all  that  are 
interested  in  the  important  subject.  We  had  heard  that  such 
a  production  was  preparing ;  and,  from  the  high  character  of 
its  author  as  a  writer  upon  subjects  of  common  literature,  and 
of  ecclesiastical  controversy ;  from  the  peculiarity  of  his  em- 
ployment, as  a  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  Semi- 
nary at  Princeton ;  from  his  acquaintance  with  the  doctrines, 
spirit,  and  exigencies  of  the  times ;  from  his  known  prudence 
and  piety  as  a  Christian  disputant ;  and  from  the  talents  with 
which  his  various  duties  have  ever  been  performed,  we  antici- 
pated an  important  acquisition  to  the  libraries  of  Christians. 
Our  expectations  have  been  fully  equalled.  *  *  So  well  is  the 
work  adapted  to  the  condition  of  the  Unitarian  controversy  in 
the  United  States,  to  the  prejudices,  the  ignorance,  and  the 
difficulties  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  ought  most  to  read  the 
publication ;  that,  when  we  consider  the  popular  objections, 
dispositions,  and  dangers,  that  are  treated  of;  the  manner  in 
which  the  Unitarians  of  the  day  are  met  upon  their  own  grounds, 
and  beaten  with  their  own  weapons ;  the  spirit  of  moderation, 
liberality  and  Christian  charity,  that  pervades  and  adorns  the 
whole ;  and  then  the  dignity  and  the  masterly  talent  that  speaks 
it  to  be  the  work  of  an  enlarged,  learned  and  vigorous  mind — 
we  feel  anxious  to  recommend  it  to  our  readers  as  a  production 
peculiarly  adapted  for  their  edification,  which  the  unlearned  as 
well  as  learned  may  understand,  feel,  and  enjoy,  and  which 
promises  an  extensive  benefit  to  the  cause  of  Christian  truth 
and  ecclesiastical  security."^ 

4.     Correspondence. 

Deacon  Ashley,  of  Mr.  Sprague's  Congregation  in  West 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  was,  for  a  number  of  years,  a 
liberal  contributor  to  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  sending 
his  donations,  through  his  pastor's  hands,  to  Dr.  Miller, 
who,  on  the  8th  of  March,  1822,  wrote,  after  acknowledging 
such  a  donation  of  $100, 

*  Our  treasury  is  indeed  low,  and  stands  in  need  of  all  the  aid 
that  we  can  obtain.  Such  unexpected  donations  as  this  are  pe- 
culiarly welcome,  and  both  demand  and  excite  peculiar  grati- 
tude.    We  regard  them  too  as  pledges,  that  the  Lord  will 

PROVIDE.      *      * 

iVol.  iii,  No.  8,  (March,  1822,)  2-19,  250. 


1822.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  69 

'  We  have,  indeed,  our  fears  whether  we  shall  be  able  to  con- 
tinue to  aid  those  to  whom  w^e  are  already  pledged.  We  have 
been  obliged  to  give  a  negative  answer  to  several  within  a  few 
weeks.  Oh,  that  the  monied  Christians  of  America  could  be 
persuaded  to  lay  to  heart  the  wants  of  hundreds  of  pious  youth, 
who  would  be  glad  to  become  ministers,  if  they  had  but  the 
means  of  sup^iort  in  the  requisite  course  of  study.' 

On  the  4th  of  May,  Dr.  Miller  again  wrote  to  Mr. 
Sprague, 

'I  will  not  conceal  that  I  am  much  gratified  by  the  appro- 
bation which  you  express,  and  which  some  of  your  brethren 
express,  of  my  "Letters  on  Unitarianism,"  My  first  prayer,  I 
hope,  is  that  they  may  be  useful.  Whenever  the  sale  of  the 
edition  already  printed  shall  have  made  such  progress,  as  to 
warrant  me  in  thinking  of  a  second  edition,  (if  such  should  ever 
be  the  case,)  it  is  my  full  intention  to  print  the  work  in  a 
cheaper  form.  I  was  induced  to  print  the  first  edition  in  the 
handsome  and  expensive  manner  w'hich  you  speak  of,  in  order 
to  catch  the  attention,  and  excite,  if  possible,  the  respect  of  the 
gay,  fashionable;  and  wealthy  people  of  Baltimore.' 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  invited  Dr.  Miller  to  preach  in  New  Haven,  at 
the  ordination  of  Messrs.  William  Goodell,  William  Rich- 
ards, and  Artemas  Bishop,  as  missionaries.  The  following 
letters  have  reference  to  that  invitation. 

'  My  dear  Sir,  '  Princeton,  August  7,  1822. 

'  Your  favour  of  the  1st  instant  came  to  my  hands  two  days 
ago.  I  thank  the  Prudential  Committee  for  the  honour  which 
they  have  done  me  in  the  appointment  which  you  announce  ; 
and  will  endeavor,  with  the  leave  of  Providence,  to  attempt 
the  execution  of  the  task  which  they  have  assigned  me. 

'  I  have,  indeed,  a  very  strong  reluctance  to  every  undertak- 
ing of  this  kind.  If  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  love  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  But  to  be  appointed,  some  weeks  before  hand,  to 
jDreach  on  a  peculiarly  solemn  and  interesting  occasion,  on 
w^hich  great  expectation  is  excited,  and  strong  feelings  exist, 
which  it  is  extremely  difiicult  to  meet,  has  long  been  peculiarly 
unwelcome  to  me.  My  health  is  delicate  ;  my  nervous  system 
is  feeble  and  tremulous  ;  and  an  untoward  event,  a  day  or  an 
hour  before  the  public  service,  might  unfit  me  to  appear  in  a 
manner  at  all  consistent  with  either  comfort  or  edification. 
But  I  will  wave  apologies,  and  cast  myself  on  my  Master's  aid. 
To  him,  if  I  know  myself,  I  desire  to  be  devoted.  Allow  me 
Vol.  II.— 7. 


70  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.    [CH.  25.  5. 

only  to  say,  that  if  Brother  Fay  comes  on,  I  hope  he  will  put  a 
sermon  in  his  pocket,  and  be  ready  to  take  the  place  (if  neces- 
sary) of  a  nervous  brother.  Be  pleased  to  remember  me  affec- 
tionately to  him,  and  be  assured  of  the  sincere  regard  of  your 
friend  and  brother  in  the  best  of  bonds, 
'  Jeremiah  Evarts,  Esq.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

, ,  |-     ,       o-  ^  *  Princeton,  September  30,  1822. 

'  I  herewith  transmit  the  promised  copy  of  my  sermon,  de- 
livered in  New  Haven,  on  the  12th  instant.  My  avocations, 
since  my  return,  have  been  so  incessant,  that  it  was  not  possible 
for  me  to  look  at  the  manuscript  untill  three  days  ago. 

'  I  wish  it  to  be  followed  closely — I  mean  particularly  with 
respect  to  capitals,  punetuatmi ,  italics,  etc.,  etc. — The  contrac- 
tions— such  as  y<^  for  the — the  printer  will,  of  course,  understand. 

'  I  have  a  taste  almost  fastidious  with  respect  to  printing 
w^ork.  Few  things  set  off  a  composition  more  than  beautiful 
typography ;  and,  as  I  am  conscious  that  my  sermon  needs 
every  advantage  it  can  gain,  I  am  desirous  of  seeing  it  neatly 
printed.  The  general  style  in  which  Dr.  Morse's,  Mr.  Btorrs' 
and  Mr.  Temple's  sermons  were  printed  will  meet  my  views 
entirely.     ^     '^^ 

'  In  haste,  I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

'  respectfully  and  affectionately, 
'  yours, 
'  Jeremiah  Evarts,  Esq.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

5.  Presidency  of  the  College. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1822,  immediately  after  the 
commencement  exercises,  Dr.  Green  resigned  his  presidency 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  Upon  the  same  day,  the 
Board  of  Trustees  elected  John  H.  Rice,  D.D.,  of  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  to  the  vacant  chair.  Dr.  Miller,  Chief 
Justice  Kirkpatrick,  and  Dr.  John  McDowell  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  apprize  Dr.  Rice,  in  person,  of  his  election. 
While,  at  first,  apparently  intending  to  visit  Richmond, 
they,  wrote,  however,  immediately,  informing  him  of  the 
action  of  the  Board;  and  Dr.  Miller  added  a  friendly 
letter. 

1"  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Middle  Church,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  Septem- 
ber 12,  1822,  at  the  Ordination  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  William  Goodell,  William 
Richards,  and  Artemas  Bishop,  as  Evangelists  and  Missionaries  to  the  Heathen. 
By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Gov- 
ernment, in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Pre.'byterian  Church,  in  the 
United  States,  at  Princeton,  N.  J.  Boston:  1822."  Isaiah  Ixi.  4.— 8vo.  Pp.  38. 


1822.]  PRESIDENCY  OF  THE  COLLEGE.  71 

'Dear  Brother,  Princeton,  September  26,  1822. 

'You  will  receive,  by  the  mail  which  carries  this,  a 
communication  from  a  committee,  of  which  I  am  a  member,  in- 
forming you  of  your  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey.  The  only  member  of  the  committee  with  whom 
you  are  not  acquainted  is  Andrew  Kirkpatrick,  Esquire,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  our  State.  So  that  you  see  it 
consists  (one  only  excepted)  of  men  of  no  ordinary  "pith  and 
moment."  The  Board  certainly  intended,  in  this  as  w^ell  as  in 
everything  else,  to  testify  their  respect  to  you. 

'  In  making  this  choice,  they  were,  not  only  ostensibly,  but 
really  and  cordially  unanimous — a  thing  which,  I  am  persua- 
ded, has  not  occurred  in  choosing  a  president,  since  the  days  of 
Burr.  The  Board  was  unusually  full — I  have  never  known 
one,  I  think,  quite  so  full  before.  When  we  commenced  the 
business  of  casting  about  for  a  president,  it  was  somewhat 
feared,  that  if  Mr.  Lindsley  (our  vice-president)  were  not  chosen 
to  the  office,  he  would  be  deeply  dissatisfied,  if  not  disposed  to 
resign.  But  it  turned  out  quite  otherwise.  At  an  early  stage 
of  the  business,  he  expressed  a  cordial  willingness  to  serve  in 
his  present  office  under  any  respectable  man  whom  the  Board 
might  choose,  and  appears  ardently  desirous  that  you  should 
come ;  and  I  doubt  not  is  cordially  and  earnestly  so. 

'  The  salary  voted  for  Dr.  Green's  successor  is  the  same  Avith 
that  which  the  former  has  had  for  ten  years;  viz.,  $2000,  to- 
gether with  an  excellent  house  and  garden ;  and  also  perqui- 
sites, which,  I  suppose,  usually  amount  to  between  $250  and 
$300  per  annum.  You  may  say  $2300  and  a  house,  and  that 
always  paid  punctually  to  a  day. 

'My  dear  Brother,  this  is  a  most  solemn  call.  I  hope  you 
will  take  it  into  most  serious  consideration,  and  that  you  will 
not  lightly  say  a  word  against  its  prosecution.  I  do  not  know 
any  single  station  in  the  United  States,  in  which_  you  will 
be  more  likely  to  serve  the  Church  of  Christ  extensively ;  nor 
any  in  which,  with  a  moiety  of  that  wisdom  and  discretion 
which  you  commonly  exercise,  you  will  be  more  likely  to  be 
both  honored  and  comfortable.  No  man  living  would  meet 
with  a  more  cordial  welcome  from  the  brethren  here,  as  well  as 
from  the  whole  Board,  than  yourself.  Of  this  be  assured. 
Come,  expecting  to  be  received  as  a  brother  beloved  and  hon- 
ored; and  to  have  your  comfort  promoted  as  far  as  we  possibly 
can.  You  know,  my  dear  Brother,  that  I  love  you  from  my 
heart.  If  I  knew  of  any  circumstance,  which,  if  I  were  in  your 
situation,  would  prevent  me  from  accepting  the  place,  I  would 
freely  communicate  it.     You  may  rest  assured,  then,  that  I 


72  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.     [CH.  25.  5. 

know  of  nothing  which,  it  apj)ears  to  me,  ought  to  operate  un- 
favorably on  this  occasion.  And  I  have  only  to  ask,  that  if 
any  unfavorable  hint  or  suggestion  should  be  made  to  you, 
from  any  quarter,  (which  however  I  do  not  anticipate,)  you 
will  not  let  it  influence  you  in  the  least,  until  you  shall  have 
communicated  with  some  one  here,  who  enjoys  your  confi- 
dence. *  * 

'All  unite  in  affectionate  salutations  to  Mrs.  Rice  and  your- 
self, with,  dear  Brother,  yours, 

'Affectionately, 

'Sam'l  Miller. 

'  P.  S.  I  have  written  the  above,  perfectly  distracted  with 
business  and  comj^any.' 

Dr.  Rice  had  been  taken  very  ill,  while  attending  the 
commencement  of  Hampden  Sidney  College ;  and  a  slow 
convalescence,  then  a  relapse,  detained  him  from  home 
until  the  middle  of  January.  Finally,  he  gave  a  negative 
answer,  on  account  of  his  shattered  health,  his  opinion  that 
he  was  unfit  for  the  office,  and  a  conviction  that  he  could 
be  most  useful  at  the  South.  The  Rev.  Philip  Linds- 
ley,  D.D.,  who  was  all  this  time  the  acting  President,  was 
then,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1823,  elected ;  but  he  also  de- 
clined the  honor.  The  Rev.  James  Carnahan,  D.D.,  was 
chosen,  about  a  month  later ;  Dr.  Miller  and  Dr.  Ogden, 
as  a  committee  of  the  Board,  went  to  Georgetown,  District 
of  Columbia,  to  present  the  invitation;  he  accepted  it,  and 
shortly  after  removed  to  Princeton.  His  inauguration  took 
place  late  in  August.  On  this  occasion,  Dr.  Miller  ad- 
dressed him  in  a  short  Latin  speech,  as  had  been  proposed 
in  the  case  of  Dr.  Green. 

Dr.  Green  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  there  became 
editor  of  a  monthly  publication,  previously  established  un- 
der the  title  of  The  Presbyterian  ;  a  name,  however,  for 
which,  in  accordance  with  his  wishes,  was  substituted  that 
of  The  Christian  Advocate^  This  magazine  he  conducted 
for  tAvelve  years.  With  an  article  for  the  Advocate,  en- 
titled ''Thoughts  on  Lay  Preaching,"  Dr.  Miller  wrote  as 
follows : — 

'Rev'dand  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  December  23,  1822. 

'  I  received  your  last  letter,  together  with  the  Introduction  to 
the  Christian  Advocate.  With  both  the  name  of  your  new 
work  and  the  Introduction  to  it  I  am  well  pleased.     May  the 


1822.]      "  LETTERS    ON    THE    ETERNAL    SONSHIP."  73 

blessing  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  rest  upon  the  enter- 
prise ! 

*  The  more  I  think  of  my  stated  and  indispensable  engage- 
ments and  feeble  health ;  and  of  what  I  must  endeavor  to  write 
and  print  within  the  next  four  or  five  months,  if  my  life  and 
health  be  spared,  the  more  completely  I  despair  of  being  able 
to  accomplish  much  for  the  "Advocate."  You  must  really 
expect  very  little  for  several  months  to  come,  or  rather  nothing 
after  what  accompanies  this. 

'  I  send  a  piece  which  looks  large,  but  which  will  not  make 
more  than  six,  or,  at  most,  seven  pages  of  your  work,  supposing 
the  present  type  to  be  continued.  I  do  not  know  whether  you 
will  like  the  subject ;  but  I  must  write  on  such  as  occur  to  me, 
and  appear  important.  I  do  not  wish  any  human  being  to  know 
that  I  am  the  writer,  and  must  (saving  your  presence)  utterly 
prohibit  the  least  lisping  of  my  name.  If  inserted  at  all,  I  wish 
it  all  to  appear  together. 

'  In  haste,  I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  very  sincerely, 

'Sam'l  Miller. 

*  P.  S.  I  do  myself  the  pleasure  to  send  herewith  a  copy  of  the 
sermon  preached  in  New  Haven,  in  September  last.  We  have 
admitted  thirty  nine  new  students  into  the  Seminary.  *  ^' 

'  I  come  on  very  slowly  with  my  answer  to  Stuart.  My  avo- 
cations are  such  that  I  can  sometimes  only  write  two  or  three 
pages  a  week.' 

The  number  of  new  students  entioned  was  greater,  by 
eight,  than  ever  before. 

^'6.  LETTERS  ON  THE  ETERNAL  SONSHIP  OF  CHRIST." 

"  The  beirinnino;  of  strife  is  as  when  one  letteth  out 
water,  "^  by  the  very  flow  of  which  the  aperture  is  widened, 
the  volume  and  momentum  of  the  stream  increased,  until, 
perhaps,  the  flood,  in  its  extent  and  consequences,  exceeds 
all  prior  imagination.  This,  though  not  a  reason  for  never 
eno-ao-ina:  in  controversy,  is  no  doubt  a  reason  for  doubly 
assuring  ourselves,  that  we  engage  on  the  right  side,  and 
that  the  present  defence  of  the  truth  in  question  is  worth 
the  risk  of  strife's  possible  issues.  None  knew  this  better, 
or  felt  it  more  deeply,  than  Dr.  Miller;  for  his  own  ex- 
perience furnished  repeated  proofs  of  it;  and  impelled,  at 
first,  only  by  powerful  motives,  to  take  up  the  pen  of  the 
polemic,  he  manifested  ever  afterwards  a  growing  aversion 

1  Proverbs  xvii,  14. 


7-i  CORRESPOXDEXCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.     [CH.  25.  6. 

to  its  use.  Although  his  life  was  very  much  spent  in  con- 
tending earnestly  for  the  truth,  it  certainly  would  have 
puzzled  those  best  acquainted  with  him,  to  discover  that  he 
had  any  real  taste  for  controversy. 

The  Unitarians  were  not  the  only  opponents  with  whom 
Dr.  Miller's  sermon  at  the  installation  of  Mr.  Kevins,  and 
the  connected  subsequent  publications,  brought  him  into 
conflict.  Professor  Stuart  of  Andover,  in  his  Letters  to 
the  Rev.  William  E.  Channing,  on  the  Trinity,  and  on  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  had  previously  denied  the  doctrine  of 
the  Eternal  Generation  of  the  Son  of  God.  Referring, 
afterwards,  to  his  own  Letters  on  L^nitarianism,  Dr.  Miller 
wrote, 

" Nothing,  I  can  declare,  was  more  remote  from  ray 

intention  or  wish  than  writing  a  line  which  might  justly  be 
construed  as  an  offensive  attack  on  any  one,  or  which  would  be 
likely  to  provoke  controversy.  I  will  not  disguise,  however, 
that  something  which  you  had  said,  in  one  of  your  letters  to 
Dr.  Channing,  ^^^sis  partly  in  my  view  in  what  I  wrote.  And 
as  you  have  set  me  so  noble  an  example  of  candour,  I  will 
fraukly  inform  you,  by  what  considerations  I  was  induced  to 
touch  on  the  subject  under  discussion,  in  my  cursory  remarks 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

"  While  I  read  your  Letters  to  Dr.  Channing  with  high  re- 
spect for  the  learning  and  talent  which  they  manifested ;  and 
Avith  no  little  gratitude  to  a  Brother,  who  was  willing  to  employ 
his  time  and  his  strength  in  so  good  a  cause;  I  must  confess 
that  my  pleasure  in  perusing  them  suffered  considerable  deduc- 
tion on  account  of  several  things  which  they  contained.  I 
thought  that  you  had  made  some  concessions  to  the  enemies  of 
the  truth,  which  could  not  fail  to  impair  the  strength  of  your 
cause ;  and  that,  in  defending  that  cause,  you  had  abandoned 
some  of  the  old,  and  as  I  verily  believed,  scriptural,  positions 
and  language,  which  I  had  been  long  accustomed  to  see  the 
Orthodox  maintain,  and  which  I  could  not  but  regard  as  of 
great  value  in  their  system.  But  I  was  particularly  dissatisfied 
with  the  manner  in  which,  in  your  Second  and  Fourth  Letters, 
you  treated  the  doctrine  of  the  Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ.  It 
appeared  to  me,  that  you  not  only  opposed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Bible  on  that  subject,  but  that  you  did  it  with  a  degree  of  con- 
fidence, and  even  severity,  which  I  was  at  a  loss  either  to  justify 
or  explain.  I  was  not  at  that  time  aware  that  so  large  a  portion 
of  the  orthodox  clergy  of  Kew  England  agreed  Avith  you  in 
opinion,  as  you  seem  to  believe;  nor  did  I  suppose  that  you  were 


1822.]      "letters  on  the  eternal  sonship."  75 

unacquainted  with  the  facts,  that  the  great  body  of  the  clergy 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  were  of  a  very 
different  opinion,  and  that  they  by  no  means  considered  it  as  a 
matter  of  small  moment. 

"It  soon  became  apj^arent  that  many  of  my  brethren  of  the 
clergy  felt  as  I  did,  or  rather  felt  still  greater  uneasiness  and 
apprehension.  They  regretted  that  a  work  which  they  con- 
sidered as  containing  so  much  excellent  and  interesting  matter, 
should  also  contain  what  they  could  not  but  deem  calculated 
to  do  harm.  They  doubted  whether  it  was  their  duty  to  con- 
tribute to  its  circulation,  especially  as  exhibiting  the  sentiments 
.  of  the  orthodox  body.  I  received  letters  from  difierent  and 
distant  parts  of  the  country,  expressing  with  regret  these  feel- 
ings, and  also  urging  the  propriety  of  some  publication  fitted 
to  counteract  the  influence  of  such  of  its  parts  as  were  thought 
to  be  erroneous.  I  read  these  communications  with  no  little 
anxiety ;  but  not  considering  myself  as  either  bound  or  quali- 
fied to  enter  the  lists  on  this  subject ;  and  feeling  peculiar  re- 
luctance to  engage  in  a  discussion  which  might  be  viewed  with 
pain  by  some  of  the  friends  of  truth,  and  would,  pretty  cer- 
tainly, be  hailed  by  its  enemies  with  joy;  I  resolved  to  lament 
in  silence  what  was  going  on,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  im- 
pairing the  cordiality  of  intercourse  between  Brethren,  who 
certainly  ought  not  to  be  divided. 

"  Such  was,  unfeignedly,  the  state  of  my  mind,  when  a  variety 
of  unexpected  circumstances  led  me  to  think  that  it  was  my 
duty  to  address  the  Members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Baltimore  on  the  subject  of  Unitarianism.  I  entered  on  the 
execution  of  my  plan  without  the  most  distant  thought  of  say- 
ing a  Word  on  the  Sonship  of  Christ.  But,  as  I  advanced  in 
the  consideration  of  the  subject,  it  appeared  to  me  impossible  to 
avoid  saying  something  on  that  point,  without  unfaithfulness  to 
the  cause  of  truth  ;  and  without  incurring  the  suspicion,  among 
the  brethren  of  my  own  Church,  of  being  either  in  error  or  in 
doubt  with  respect  to  the  doctrine  in  question.  I,  therefore, 
felt  myself  called  upon,  as  it  fairly  came  in  my  way,  briefly 
but  decisively  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  subject.  The 
thought  of  offending  even  the  most  zealous  and  fastidious  ad- 
herent to  the  doctrine  to  which  you  hold  never  entered  my 
mind.  To  deliver  my  conscience,  and  to  avert  from  myself  un- 
just suspicion,  without  wounding  the  feelings  of  a  human  being, 
formed  the  sum  total  of  my  purpose,"^ 

In  1822,  Professor  Stuart  published  "Letters  on  the 
Eternal  Generation  of  the  Son  of  God,  addressed  to  the 

^Letters  on  the  Eternal  Sonship,  15-18. 


76  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.    [CH.  25.  6. 

Kev.    Samuel  Miller,   D.D.     In    his   Introduction   he  re- 
marks, 

"I  must  frankly  acknowledge  to  you  my  regret,  that  I  have 
expressed  myself,  on  this  subject,  in  terms  so  strong.  The  only 
apology  for  this  which  I  can  make,  is,  that  at  the  time  when  I 
wrote  my  Letters,  I  was  not  at  all  apprehensive,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  eternal  generation  was  looked  upon,  by  Christians  in 
our  country,  to  be  so  precious  and  important  a  truth,  as  your 
third  Letter  represents  it  to  be.  I  knew,  indeed,  that  there 
were  theologians,  who  received  and  maintained  the  doctrine. 
But  I  was  not  conscious  that  it  was  regarded  in  such  a  light,  as 
to  call  for  zealous  efforts  to  defend  it,  or  that  the  denial  of  it 
would  make  any  breach  of  entire  confidence  and  charity  be- 
tween Christian  brethren.  Nothing  was  more  natural  for  me 
than  to  have  felt  thus.  During  all  my  theological  life,  I  had 
never  once  heard  the  doctrine  of  eternal  generation  seriously 
avowed  and  defended.  Nearly  ail  the  ministers  in  New  Eng- 
land, since  I  have  been  upon  the  stage,  have,  so  far  as  I  knoAV 
their  sentiments,  united  in  rejecting  it,  or,  at  least,  in  regarding 
it  as  unimportant.  Our  most  distinguished  theologians,  for 
forty  years  past,  have  openly  declared  against  it.  Multitudes 
of  ministers  among  us,  of  distinguished  talents  and  theological 
knowledge ;  men  of  eminent  piety,  and  whose  labors  have  been 
blessed  with  such  revivals  of  religion  as  have  scarcely  appeared 
in  any  country ;  men  whom  the  church  will  honor,  long  after 
they  are  dead,  as  some  of  her  brightest  ornaments,  as  diadems 
in  her  crown  of  glory ;  men  who  are  not  only  orthodox,  but 
distinguished  champions  of  orthodoxy ;  reject,  as  I  have  done, 
the  doctrine  of  eternal  generation.  Many  who  are  fallen  asleep 
in  Jesus,  and  have  gone  to  be  rewarded  by  that  Saviour  whom 
they  loved  and  honoured,  w^ere  of  the  same  sentiments  and 
character."^ 

"  I  know  your  excellent  character  and  benevolent  sj)irit  too 
well,  to  believe  that  you  would  write  one  line  in  order  to  wound 
the  feelings  of  the  great  body  of  your  clerical  brethren  in  New 
England,  (and  of  many  out  of  it  also,)  who  reject  the  doctrine 
of  eternal  generation.  I  will  not,  therefore,  take  exceptions  at 
the  charge  of  impiety,  and  of  verging  to  Unitarian  sentiments^ 
which  you  have  conuected  with  rejecting  this  doctrine.  Though 
I  have  the  pleasure  of  only  a  moderate  personal  acquaintauce 
with  you,  I  know  enough  concerning  you  to  believe,  that  strong 
as  your  language  is,  and  high  as  the  nature  of  the  charge  might 
seem  to  be  against  your  Christian  brethren  and  fellow  labourers 

^  Letters  on  Eternal  Generation,  4,  5. 


1822.]      ^'letters  on  the  eternal  sonship."  77 

in  the  gospel,  it  proceeds  from  no  ill-will  to  them ;  nor  from 
any  cause  but  an  honest  and  well  meaning  zeal,  for  what  you 
believe  to  be  truth."^ 

" I  profess  to  seek  for  truth;  and  if  my  heart  does 

not  deceive  me,  I  do  sincerely  wish  to  know  the  truth,  on  this 
subject.  I  doubt  not  that  you  reciprocate  these  feelings  ;  and 
that  you  will  consider  with  candor  what  I  may  allege,  in  sup- 
port of  the  opinion  which  I  have  formed. 

"  We  will  not  dispute ;  but  it  is  lawful  and  Christian  to  in- 
vestigate and  to  discuss.  Truth  cannot  suifer  by  this,  if  we  act 
soberly  and  with  kind  feelings,  while  engaged  in  discussion;"^ 

"Nothing  but  the  respect  and  affection  which  I  have  for  you, 
would  have  induced  me,  at  present,  to  undertake  the  laborious 
investigation  through  which  I  have  passed.  But  I  acknowledge, 
that  the  manner  in  which  you  spoke  of  the  sentiments  that  I 
embrace,  did  constrain  me  to  re-investigate  them,  from  a  sense 
of  Christian  obligation."^ 

Dr.  Miller  could  not  well  decline  the  amicable  challenore 
thus  given,  and  in  the  late  Spring  of  1823  appeared  his 
reply ."^  Some  extracts  from  this  have  already  been  given, 
as  exhibiting  part  of  the  history  and  spirit  of  the  contro- 
versy ;  and  a  few  paragraphs  will  now  be  added. 

"  Before  I  proceed  further,  allow  me  heartily  to  thank  you 
for  the  fraternal  respect  and  urbanity  with  which  you  have 
written  on  this  subject.  I  thank  you  for  the  honour  you  have 
done  me  by  your  manner  of  addressing  me.  I  congratulate  you 
on  the  still  greater  honour  you  have  done  yourself,  by  main- 
taining, throughout,  with  such  perfect  success,  the  temper  and 
language  of  a  gentleman  and  a  christian.  And,  most  of  all,  I 
rejoice  in  the  honour  you  have  done  our  common  Christianity, 
by  shewing  the  enemies  of  the  truth  with  what  freedom  from 
unhallowed  feelings  a  friend  of  general  orthodoxy  can  plead 
for  his  opinions."^ 

"  "^  '^  there  is  a  single  sentence,  on  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration, in  the  Third  of  my  "  Letters  on  Unitarianism,"  on 
which  I  wish  to  make  a  few  explanatory  remarks.  It  is  in  these 
words — "  Where,  then,  is  the  absurdity  or  contradiction  of  an 
eternal,  necessary  emanation  from  him ;  or,  if  you  please,  an 
eternal  generation;  and  also  an  eternal  procession  of  the  Holy 

1  Letters,  6.  2  id.  5,  ^  U.  165. 

4  "  Letters  on  the  Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ :  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Professor 
Stuart,  of  Andover.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory and  Church  Government,  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  at  Princeton.     Philadelphia:  1823."— 12mo.  Pp.  295. 

0  Pp.  13,  14. 


78  CORHESPONDENCE  AND    PUBLICATIONS.     [CII.  25.  G. 

Spirit  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  ?  To  deny  the  possibility 
of  this,  or  to  assert  that  it  is  a  manifest  contradiction,  either  in 
terms  or  ideas,  is  to  assert,  that  although  the  Father  is  from  all 
eternity,  yet  he  could  not  ad  from  all  eternity;  which  I  will 
venture  to  assert,  is  as  unphilosophical  as  it  is  impious." 

"  Here  it  appears  to  me,  that,  upon  every  principle  of  fair 
construction,  the  epithets,  unphilosophical  and  impious  are  ap- 
plied (as  they  certainly  were  intended  to  be)  only  to  the  assertion 
that  God  the  Father,  though  he  is  from  eternity,  could  not  act 
from  eternity.  Now  you  declare  that  neither  you,  nor  those 
who  think  with  you,  either  assert  or  believe  any  such  thing; 
and  yet  you  seem  to  insist  on  applying  the  offensive  epithets  to 
yourselves.  This  I  most  sincerely  regret.  Nothing,  I  can 
solemnly  assure  you,  my  dear  Sir,  was  ever  further  from  my 
thoughts  than  such  an  application."  "^     ^ 

"Yet,  after  all,  with  the  most  perfect  consciousness  of  inno- 
cence, as  to  my  intention,  in  this  case,  I  can  now  see,  on  a  re- 
view of  my  language,  that  it  might  have  -been  more  carefully 
guarded;  and  I  do  sincerely  wish  it  had  been  differently  modi- 
fied ;  *  *  I  hope,  therefore,  you  will  not  only  acquit  me  of  all 
designed  incivility ;  but  that  you  will,  once  for  all,  be  persuaded 
that  I  am  incapable  of  employing  any  turn  of  expression  cal- 
culated, in  the  least  degree,  to  wound  your  feelings.    *    * 

"  In  all  the  earnestness,  then,  with  which  you  deprecate  the 
unhallowed  feelings  and  language  of  "  controversy"  on  this  sub- 
ject, I  most  cordially  unite  with  you.  It  shall  be  as  you  say. 
We  will  discuss,  not  dispute.  And  I  do  sincerely  hope  that 
those  timid  friends,  who  have  apprehended  that  this  discussion 
would  prove  injurious  to  the  cause  of  truth,  will  be  agreeably 
disappointed."^ 

"  What  degree  of  prevalence  the  doctrine  which  you  espouse 
may  have  gained  in  this  country,  I  am  unable  with  any  degree 
of  confidence  to  decide;  but  rather  suppose  it  has  few  adherents 
out  of  New  England.  I  do  not  even  kudw  who  commenced  the 
propagation  of  it  in  the  United  States.  It  was  natural  that  the 
speculations  oiJRoell,  toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
in  Holland,  and,  after  him,  of  Bidgleij,  in  Great  Britain,  should 
find  their  way  across  the  Atlantick,  and  make  some  disciples. 
And,  accordingly,  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  was  really  the  case. 
I  have  heard  of  a  very  short  published  hint  of  such  opinion,  as 
held  by  an  eminently  pious  clergyman  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Philadelp)hia,  about  forty  years  ago.  Another  Pres- 
byterian clergyman,  about  the  same  time,  of,  perhaps,  equal 
eminence  for  piety,  but  of  a  more  eccentrick  disposition,  pub- 

1  Pp.  19-22. 


1822.]        *'  LETTERS    OX    THE    ETERNAL    SONSHIP."  79 

lished  the  same  doctrine,  as  an  article  of  his  faith.  Not  a  few 
reproaches  were  heaped  upon  us  for  tolerating  such  opinions  in 
our  Church;  but  still  they  were  tolerated.  TSo  publick  notice 
was  taken  of  them  in  the  way  of  discipline.  To  these  succeeded 
the  acute  and  venerable  Dr.  Emmons,  of  Massachusetts.  What 
proportion  of  the  New  England  clergy  may  be,  at  present,  be- 
lievers in  that  doctrine,  I  have  no  means  of  being  accurately 
informed.  It  is  well  known,  however,  that  the  illustrious  Presi- 
dent Edwards,  and  also  Doctors  Bellamy  and  Hopkins,  and 
other  distinguished  fathers  of  the  New  England  churches,  re- 
jected this  opinion,  and  to  their  dying  day  adhered  to  the  old 
doctrine.  With  respect  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  my  im- 
pression certainly  is,  that  the  great  body  of  her  clergy,  at  least 
nineteen  out  of  twenty,  adhere  to  the  old  Nicene,  or  rather,  as, 
with  my  opinion,  I  ought  to  say,  the  true  Bible  doctrine.  Certain 
it  is,  that  none  of  them  can  consistently  embrace  any  other,  as 
long  as  they  continue  to  profess  their  belief  in  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith,  which  is  so  explicit  on  this  subject. 

"I  freely  acknowledge,  with  you,  that  the  doctrine  which 
I  now  advocate,  is  that  in  which  I  was  educated.  A  venerated 
Parent,  who  had  studied  Theology  in  Massachusetts,  his  native 
State,  was  my  preceptor.  I  can  truly  say,  even  more  strongly 
than  you  do,  with  respect  to  the  opposite  opinion,  that,  during 
the  early  part  of  my  theological  life,  I  never  met  with  the 
slightest  hint  of  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  Eternal  Generation, 
excepting  in  books  ;  nor  ever  heard  a  different  opinion  spoken 
of,  but  as  an  error,  to  be  regarded  with  apprehension."^ 

In  his  •'  Concluding  Remarks,"  Dr.  Miller  says, 

"But  you  will,  perhaps,  ask  me,  what  degree  oiimportance  I 
attach  to  the  question  under  discussion.    *    * 

"I  do  not  suppose,  then,  that  it  ought  to  be  ranked  among 
the  fundamentals  of  Christianity.  "^  "^  it  would  never  occur  to 
me  to  think,  for  one  moment,  of  placing  it  [the  denial  of  the 
Eternal  Sonship]  in  the  list  of  radical  errors.  For  example,  no 
candid  inquirer,  I  should  suppose,  would  hesitate  to  acknowledge 
the  general  orthodoxy  of  the  pious  and  venerable  Dr.  Ridgley, 
or  would  venture  to  brand  him  as  a  heritick,  for  the  doctrine 
which  he  has  so  zealously  taught  on  the  subject  of  this  corres- 
pondence. 

"Yet,  as  I  said,  I  must  deeply  regret  the  propagation  of  such 
a  doctrine,  and  cannot  consider  it  as  by  any  means  likely  to  be 
innocent.  ^  ^ 

"  But,  my  dear  brother,  I  hope  you  will  not  ascribe  it  to  the 
least    unfriendliness  of  feeling,  when  I  say,  that  the  doctrine, 

1  Pp.  24-26. 


80  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.    [CH.  25.  6. 

which  you  maintain  on  the  subject  of  this  correspondence,  con- 
sidered in  itself,  does  not  by  any  means  excite  so  much  appre- 
hension in  my  mind,  as  the  means  to  which  you  resort  for  its 
support.  The  doctrine  itself  I  cannot,  indeed,  contemplate 
wholly  without  fear,  in  any  form :  but  the  medium  of  proof 
which  you  employ,  I  regard  with  much  more  uneasiness.  A 
number  of  your  arguments;  the  strain  of  your  principal  objec- 
tions ;  and  the  license  which  you  indulge,  in  many  cases,  in  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture, — all  savour  so  much  of  a  school 
with  which  I  should  abhor  the  thought  of  associating  your  re- 
spected name,  that  I  read  them  with  not  a  little  pain ;  a  pain 
altogether  unconnected  with  the  circumstance  of  their  coming 
from  an  opposer  of  my  creed.  Yes,  my  dear  Sir,  though  I 
know  you  abhor  the  sentiments  of  that  school,  from  your  heart ; 
yet,  if  your  name  were  removed  from  the  title-page ;  and  if 
the  several  passages,  in  which  you  profess  your  firm  belief  in 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  were  expunged  from  your  pamphlet,  I 
should  really  suspect  that  it  had  come  from  some  member  of 
the  Unitarian  ranks,  rather  than  from  the  midst  of  the  Ortho- 
dox camp,  I  again  deprecate  any  misconstruction  of  this  re- 
mark: but  it  is  the  simple  truth  ;  and  I  know  it  to  have  been 
made  by  a  number  of  others,  as  well  as  myself"^ 

"  I  will  now,  my  dear  Friend,  bring  this  correspondence,  on 
ray  part,  to  a  close — I  hope  a  final  one.  *  *  I  would  much 
rather  that  we  should  spend  our  leisure  hours  in  the  culture  of 
that  brotherly  love,  which  it  is  my  earnest  hope  may  ever  sub- 
sist between  us ;  and  in  recommending  to  our  Pupils,  and  sup- 
porting before  the  world,  those  great  fundamental  and  practical 
principles  of  our  common  salvation,  in  which  we  are  substan- 
tially agreed,  and  which  we  concur  in  regarding  as  of  infinite 
importance.  Verily,  my  Brother,  there  is  enough  in  these 
principles  to  engage  the  whole  of  the  best  acquirements,  and 
the  best  energies,  that  we  can  summon  to  their  defence."^ 

"In  bidding  you  farewell,  allow  me  to  add,  as  one  more  tri- 
bute to  that  cordial  amity  which  I  wish  to  subsist  between  us, 
that  if  I  have  written  a  word  which  is,  in  the  remotest  degree, 
inconsistent  with  a  fraternal  spirit,  it  is  my  earnest  hope  that 
you  will  forgive  it,  and  set  it  down  to  the  score  of  pure  inad- 
vertence. *  *  It  has  been  my  wish  to  remember,  in  every  word 
that  I  wrote,  that  I  was  addressing  one  whom  I  regarded  as  a 
faithful  and  devoted  Servant  of  Christ,  and  with  whom  I  hope, 
through  the  riches  of  sovereign  grace,  to  dwell  forever  in  a  more 
enlightened  and  a  more  happy  world."^ 

1  Pp.  284,  285,  289,  290.  2  pp.  292,  293.  3  pp.  991^  295. 


1823.]     "letters  on  the  eternal  sonship."  81 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Wisncr  of  January  17,  1823,  speak- 
ing of  his  work  on  the  Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ,  then  in 
preparation,  Dr.  Miller  says, 

'  I  thank  you  for  putting  me  on  my  guard  against  acrimoni- 
ous language.  Several  other  friends  have  done  the  same. 
The  caution  is  important,  and  I  feel  that  I  have  need  of  it. 
May  he  who  has  the  hearts  and  pens  of  his  people  in  his  hands 
guide  me  aright  in  this  as  well  as  in  other  respects.' 

To  Dr.  Green  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

*  Kev'd  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  January  28th,  1823. 

*I  received  your  letter  of  the  25th  instant  this  morning,  with 
$7  inclosed.  On  opening  and  reading  your  communication,  I 
acknowledge  I  felt  half  oftended,  that  you  should  suppose  me  to 
have  written  with  a  view,  or  the  least  expectation  of  being  re- 
munerated; or  to  be  willing  to  receive  anything  of  the  kind. 
No,  my  dear  Sir :  as  long  as  the  Christian  Advocate  remains 
in  its  present  situation — struggling  for  support — I  will  never 
receive  a  farthing  for  anything  I  may  write  for  it.  I  shall 
rather  consider  myself,  in  common  with  all  the  ministei's  and 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  debtor  to  its  editor, 
after  doing  all  in  my  power  to  help  it.  If  I  should  live  to  see 
the  time,  when  the  magazine  shall  be  able  to  support  itself  and 
its  editor,  comfortably,  ami  have  a  surplus  fund  for  buying 
food,  I  may  then  consent  to  receive  something  for  my  lucubra- 
tions. Until  then,  I  entreat  you,  never  think  of  ofiering  me  a 
cent,  unless  you  wisli  to  wound  my  feelings.  After  this  ex- 
planation, you  will  not  be  surprized  that  Ire-inclose  the  money 
transmitted. 

'And  you  may  rely  on  it,  I  v\'ill  not  write  the  less  for  resolv- 
ing to  take  this  step.  I  am  still  deeply  engaged  with  Professor 
Stuart;  but  when  1  have  a  little  leisure,  you  may  certainly  ex- 
pect to  hear  from  me  again,  if  Providence  permit.  I  will 
endeavor  to  think  of  some  such  little  pieces  as  you  mention. 

*I  am  rejoiced  to  know  that  your  lectures  are  well  attended. 
I  had  heard  of  this,  however,  before.  Mrs.  Miller  was  in 
Philadelphia,  for  a  single  day,  about  a  fortnight  ago,  and  made 
a  point  of  hearing  you.  She  reported  so  many  good  things,  I 
could  not  doubt  that  a  degree  of  success  equal  to  your  mo&t 
sanguine  expectations  was  attending  the  effort. 

'  With  many  prayers  for  your  daily  increasing  comfort  and 
usefulness,  in  the  important  station  in  which  you  are  called  to 
serve  the  Church, 

'I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

'  Moit  respectfully  and  cordially  yours, 

'Rev'd  Dr.  Green.  •  Sam'l  Miller.' 

Vol.  II. -^S. 


82  COIlIlESPO:!^DENCE  AND  PUBLICATIONS.  [CII.  25.  6. 

The  learned  and  venerable  Dr.  Livingston,  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  New  Brunswick,  thus  acknowledged  a 
copy  of  the  work  on  the  Eternal  Sonship  : — 

'  Before  I  had  finished  your  second  letter,  I  felt  inclined  to 
thank  you  for  your  valuable  present:  after  reading  the  whole, 
my  approbation  increased,  and  you  must  permit  me  to  express 
the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  I  received  from  your  whole  ar- 
rangement, your  critical  citations,  and  your  unanswerable 
conclusions.  Whether  you  will  convince  Dr.  S.  of  his  error  is 
doubtful;  but  that  you  have  established  the  doctrine,  and  will 
confirm  others  in  their  knowledge  and  faith,  respecting  the 
eternal  generation  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  certain;  and  our 
churches  will  unite  with  me  in  thanking  you  for  a  work  in 
which  erudition,  and  faithfulness,  and  zeal  are  successfully 
blended.' 


CHAPTER     TAVENTY- SIXTH. 

CHANGES     AND     LABORS. 

1823-1826. 


1.     Mrs.  Margaret  Breckinridge. 

In  January,  1823,  Dr.  Miller's  eldest  daughter,  Mar- 
garet was  married  to  the  Rev.  John  Breckinridge.^  She 
was  now  in  her  twenty-first  year.  In  a  revival  wdiich  had 
taken  place  in  Princeton,  when  she  was  about  eighteen,  an 
interest  had  been  excited  among  some  of  her  female  friends 
for  her  conversion.  "They  concluded  to  make  her  the 
subject  of  special  prayer.  Of  this  she  was  entirely  ignorant, 
until  the  evidence  appeared  in  herself  of  the  verity  of  the 
promise,  as  to  the  result  of  "fervent,  effectual  prayer."  A 
sermon  of  the  celebrated  President  Edwards,  read  in  a 
small  social  meeting,  arrested  her  attention,  and  brought 
her  to  continued,  deep,  serious  thinking,  which  ended,  as 
she  thou|]:ht,  in  a  new  view  of  everlastino;  thing's.  With  all 
the  sanguine  feelings  of  youth,  she  judged  herself  prepared 
to  be  united  with  the  church ;  but  owing  to  the  unwilling- 
ness of  her  parents  to  risk  the  possibility  of  a  premature 
profession  of  religion,  this  step  was  delayed." 

Her  next  sister,  Elizabeth,  Avith  whom  she  had  been  con- 
stantly and  closely  associated  in  her  education,  both  at 
home  and  elsewhere,  in  giving  an  account,  some  time  af- 
terward, of  her  own  religious  views,  said,  she  had  "expe- 
rienced an  irresistible  feeling  of  contempt  for  the  concern 
which  Margaret  manifested,  and  concluded  that  she  was 
indulging  a  mere  hypocritical  affectation  ;  in  consequence 
of  which  she  was  be^innino;  to  make  some  observations  to 
this  effect,  when,  in  a  moment,  a  deep  conviction  fastened 
on  her  conscience,  of  the  danger  of  resisting  what  might 

^Sec  4  Sprague's  Annals,  615. 

83 


84  ^     CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.-26.  1. 

prove  to  be  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  im- 
pression resulted  in  a  real  concern  for  herself,  and  in  views 
equally  solemn  with  those  expressed  by  Margaret."^ 

"Both  soon  thought  that  they  had  obtained  an  interest 
in  him  whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin"  ;  but  Margaret, 
at  length,  "  through  manifold  temptations,"  was  drawn 
away  again  too  much  toward  the  Avorld ;  while  Elizabeth, 
falling  into  ill  health,  from  which  she  never  recovered,  fell 
also  into  such  doubt  and  perplexity  about  her  own  state, 
that  for  some  time  she  shrunk  from  making  a  profession. 

Mr.  Breckinridge  had  closed  his  theological  studies,  un- 
der the  conviction  that  it  was  his  duty  to  devote  himself  to 
the  work  of  foreign  missions.  With  the  expectation  of  ac- 
companying him  to  a  heathen  land,  Margaret  had  pledged 
herself.  But  events  beyond  his  own  control,  and  the  de- 
cision of  his  fathers  and  older  brethren  in  the  ministry, 
changed  his  destination.  He  became  pastor  of  the  Mc- 
Chord  Church  of  Lexington  in  his  native  State,  and 
thither  his  wife  accompanied  him,  in  the  spring  following 
her  marriage.  Soon  afterwards  she  there  tremblingly  pro- 
fessed Christ,  just  about  the  time — probably  upon  the  same 
day,  although  without  concert — that  Elizabeth,  measurably 
relieved  of  her  doubts  and  fears,  joined  the  Church  in 
Princeton. 

Mr.  Breckinridfire  was  a  son  of  the  Honorable  John 
Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States,  under  Jefferson's  administration.  Designed 
for  the  Bar,  and  sent  to  college  at  Princeton  for  his  literary 
training,  he  there  was  called,  as  he  ever  afterAvards  trusted, 
into  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  of 
reconciliation.  Graduated  with  liigh  honor  in  1818,  he  was, 
in  1820  and  1821,  a  tutor  in  the  College,  while  also  prosecu- 
ting his  studies  in  the  Theological  Seminary.  Licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  ISew  Brunswick,  the  1st  of  Au- 
gust, 1822,  he  served  as  chaplain  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  United  States  durino;  the  session  of  1822-23. 
On  the  10th  of  September  of  the  latter  year,  he  was  or- 
dained to  the  work  of  the  ministr}^  and  installe<l  pastor  of 
the  McChord  Church,  by  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexing- 
ton. 

1  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Brcckinridgo,  21,  22. 


1823.]     sermons  and  correspondence.       85 

2.  Sermons  and  Correspondence. 

In  1823,  Dr.  Miller  preached  and  published  a  sermon/ 
'vvhich  is  interesting  as  it  marks  the  commencement  of  an 
observance,  which  has  since  been  continued,  and  regarded 
with  very  great  interest,  by  multitudes  in  the  United  States. 
The  following  advertisement  prefaces  the  publication  : — 

"The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  preparation  and  deliv- 
ery of  the  following  Discourse,  were  these.  A  circular  commu- 
nication having  been  received,  by  an  individual  in  Princeton, 
from  a  distant  and  highly  respected  Brother,  announcing  that 
a  number  of  persons,  in  different  parts  of  the  JJn  ited  States,  had 
agreed  to  set  apart  Thursday  the  27th  of  February  last,  as  a 
day  of  special  Prayer  and  Fasting,  for  the  particular  purpose 
of  imploring  a  Revival  of  Religion  in  the  Colleges  of  our  Coun- 
try;— the  Faculty  and  a  large  number  of  the  Students  of  Nas- 
sau Hall,  together  with  the  Professors  and  Students  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  Princeton,  promptly  resolved  to  unite  in 
the  observance.  The  day  was  observed  accordingly.  As  a  va- 
riety of  considerations  prevented  the  delivery  of  an  appropriate 
discourse  at  that  time ;  and  as  the  author  happened  to  be  the 
first  of  the  preachers  statedly  ministering -in  the  College-Chapel, 
who  occupied  that  pulpit,  after  the  day  alluded  to ;  he  deemed 
it  proper  to  embrace  the  oj^portunity  afforded  him,  of  endeav- 
oring to  revive  and  deepen  the  impression  made  by  the  pre- 
ceding solemnities.  Whether  he  did  right  in  complying  with 
a  request  to  print  what  he  delivered,  the  reader  must  judge. 
His  Tirayer  is,  that  it  may  be  useful. 

"Pkincetox,  March  iWi,  1823.'^ 

Such  was  the  first  ''Day  of  Prayer  for  Colleges."  It 
may  have  been  less  in  accordance  with  Scripture  teaching, 
than  with  prevailing  modern  religious  tendencies,  that  the 
accompaniment  of  fasting  has  been  so  generally,  perhaps 
quite  universally,  dropped. 

To  Dr.  Griffin  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  12th  of  May, 
1823, 

'  We  are  going  on  pretty  much  as  usual — wanting  larger 
funds,  and,  above  all,  much  more  grace,  for  the  discharge  of 
our  momentous  duties.  Pray  for  us,  that  we  may  be  more  holy, 
more  faithful  and  more  useful. 

^  "The  Literarj'  Fountains  Healed  ;  a  Sermon,  preached  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  March  9th,  1823.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton.  Trenton  :  1S23."— 2  Kings  ii.  21. — 
8yo.     Pp.  42,  ' 

8* 


86  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  2. 

'My  health  has  been  delicate  and  rather  declining  for  two 
years  past.  I  am  now,  thanks  to  a  kind  Providence,  in  tolera- 
ble comfort,  but  am  daily  admonished  that  I  am  growing  old 
and  infirm/ 

The  "  Arch  Street  Presbyterian  Church''  of  Philadel- 
pliia,  between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  streets,  was  dedicated 
ia  1823.  Dr.  Miller  preached  upon  the  occasion.^  Deny- 
ing, in  this  sermon,  that  to  any  place  or  edifice  can  now  be 
attributed  intrinsic  holiness,  and  disapproving,  therefore, 
of  the  idea  that  a  church  can  be  "consecrated;"  he  com- 
mends, however,  "the  practice  of  opening  liouses  of  pub- 
lic worship  Avith  appropriate  religious  exercises" — that  is, 
their  "dedication  ;"  and  on  the  ground  of  the  "association 
of  ideas,"  maintains,  that  after  a  house  has  been  so  opened, 
"it  is  not  desirable  or  proper,  in  ordinary  cases,  to  employ 
it  for  any  other  purpose;"  than  the  Avorship  of  God.  As 
to  church-building  in  general,  he  remarks, 

"  To  expend  millions  upon  a  single  place  of  Avorship  noiu, 
Avhile  thousands  of  poor  around  us  are  suffering  for  bread,  and 
Avdiile  a  great  majority  of  oar  race  are  still  covered  with  Pagan 
darkness,  and  perishing  for  lack  of  knoAvledge, — appears  so 
unreasonable  and  criminal,  that  I  hope  Ave  are  in  no  danger  of 
going  to  that  extreme.  But  another,  and,  perhaps,  a  much 
more  common  extreme,  especially  in  oar  church,  taken  at 
large,  is,  contenting  ourselves  Avith  mean  and  uncomfortable 
houses  in  A^dlich  to  Avorship  God.  *  ^  No  worshipper  ought 
ever  to  be  Avilliug  to  live  in  a  better  house  than  that  Avhich  he, 
Avith  others,  has  devoted  to  his  Maker  and  Redeemer.  And 
Avhile,  on  the  other  hand,  that  splendour  and  magnificence  of 
architecture,  Avhich  is  adapted  to  arrest  and  occupy  the  mind, 
and  to  draw  it  aAvay  from  spiritual  objects,  ought  carefully  to 
be  avoided ;  and  avoided,  not  merely  on  the  score  of  expense^ 
but  of  Christian  edification ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  that  simple 
lasteful  elegance,  on  which  the  eye  is  apt  to  rest  Avith  composed 
satisfaction  ;  that  studious  provision  for  perfect  convenience 
and  comfort,  Avhich  is  calculated  to  place  every  Avorshipper  in 
circumstances  favourable  to  tranquil,  undivided  and  devout 
attention,  ought  to  be  always  and  carefully  consulted  by  every 
congregation,  that  is  able  to  accomplish  Avhat  is  desirable  in 
these  respects." 

1 "  A  Sermon,  delivered  June  seventh,  1823,  at  the  Opening  of  the  New  Pres- 
hytcrian  Church,  in  Arch  street,  in  the  City  of  Phihideiphia,  for  the  Public 
AVorship  of  God.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton.  Philadelphia:  1823." — 2  Chronicles  vi.  41. — 8vo. 
Pp.  32. 


1823.]  SERMONS    A^sB    CORRESPONDENCE.  87 

In  a  note  upon  tlie  foregoing  passage,  tlie  author  says, 

"  It  is  a  law  of  our  mental,  as  well  as  of  our  physical  nature, 
that  two  classes  of  emotions  cannot  be  in  a  high,  certainly  not 
in  a  governing,  degree  of  exercise  at  the  same  time.  When- 
ever, therefore,  we  assemble  for  the  worship  of  God  in  situa- 
tions in  which  we  are  constantly  surrounded  and  addressed  by 
the  most  exquisite  productions  of  art,  which  arrest  and  engross 
the  mind,  we  are,  plainly,  not  in  circumstances  favourable  to 
true  spiritual  worship.  Would  any  rational  man  expect  to  find 
himself  really  devout  in  St.  Pete7''s  at  Home,  even  if  the  most 
scriptural  service  were  performed  within  its  walls,  until  he 
should  have  become  so  familiar  with  the  unrivalled  specimens 
of  taste  and  grandeur  around  him,  as  to  forget  or  cease  to  feel 
them  ?  Or,  would  any  one  be  likely  to  "  make  melody  in  his 
heart  to  the  Lord,"  v/hile  the  most  skillful  and  touching  refine- 
ments of  music  saluted  and  ravished  his  ears  ?  Thrilled  and 
transported  he  might  be ;  but  it  would  rather  be  the  transport 
of  natural  taste,  than  the  heavenliness  of  spiritual  devotion. 
There  never  was  a  sounder  maxim  than  that  delivered  in  the 
])lain  and  homely,  but  forcible  language  of  the  celebrated  Mr. 
Poole,  the  learned  compiler  of  the  Synopsis  Critlconmi,  ^  * 
— "  the  more  inveiglements  there  are  to  sense,  the  more  disad- 
vantage to  the  spirit."  No  one,  of  course,  will  consider  this 
maxim  as  intended  to  teach,  that,  in  order  to  promote  the 
spirit  of  true  devotion,  it  is  necessary  or  desirable  to  be  sur- 
rounded with  that  which  is  mean,  irregular,  or  disgusting  to 
the  mind  of  taste.  On  the  contrary,  the  fact  is,  that  such 
mean  and  disgusting  objects  tend  to  arrest  and  draw  away  the 
mind  in  an  opposite  and  painful  manner ;  and  are  thus,  per- 
haps, with  respect  to  many  persons,  quite  as  unfriendly  to  the 
exercises  of  calm  piety,  as  the  utmost  fascinations  of  art  can 
be."^ 

Dr.  Miller  preached  a  sermon  in  1823,  before  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey,  just  constituted  by  the  division  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Jersey,  which  the  Synod  re- 
quested for  publication,  ordering  five  hundred  copies  to  be 
printed.^     In  regard  to  slavery  he  said, 

" on  the  general  subject  of  slavery,  it  is  not  necessary 

to  enlarge  before  this  audience.  All  who  hear  me  will  be 
ready  at  once  to  grant,  that,  considered  in  itself,  it  is  unjust, 

^  Pp.  21-23. 

2  "  A  Sermon,  PreacheH  at  New-Ark,  October  221,  1823,  Before  the  Synod  of 
New  Jersey,  for  the  benefit  of  the  African  School,  under  the  care  of  the  Synod. 
By  Samuel  iMiller,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 
Trenton  :  1823."— Isaiah  Ixi.  1.— 8yo.     Pp.  28. 


88  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  2. 

unreasonable,  inhuman,  contrary  to  all  the  maxims  of  sound 
policy,  as  hostile  to  the  best  interests  of  those  who  inflict,  as  of 
those  who  suffer  the  injury,  and  especially  altogether  unworthy 
of  a  Christian  and  a  Republican  community." 

" no  advantage,  in  this  great  concern,  is,  in  my  opinion, 

to  be  gained  by  indulging  in  contemptuous  or  acrimonious  lan- 
guage respecting  our  Southern  Brethren,  who  are  more  largely 
conversant  Avith  the  evil  in  question,  and  more  immediately 
and  deeply  concerned  than  ourselves  in  applying  a  j^roper 
remedy.  We  sometimes  hear  language  in  the  Eastern  and 
Middle  sections  of  our  country,  in  regard  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  principal  Slave  States,  as  they  are  called,  which  is  calculated 
deeply  to  wound  feelings,  and,  of  course,  by  no  means  adapted 
to  the  promotion  of  harmony.  Is  this  fraternal  ?  Is  it  wise  ? 
Is  it  politic  ?  I  really  think  not.  I  know  not  that  we  have 
any  reason  to  consider  our  Southern  Neighbours  as  more 
friendly  to  slavery,  in  theory,  or  as  a  system,  than  ourselves. 
They  freely  acknowledge  the  deplorable  character  of  the  evil 
as  it  exists  among  themselves.  They  lament  it ;  they  mourn 
over  it ;  and  give  every  evidence  that  they  desire,  as  sincerely 
as  we  desire,  to  apply  some  adequate  remedy  to  the  acknow- 
ledged calamity.  Are  they  even  essentially  more  to  blame  for 
the  existence  of  slavery  among  themselves,  than  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  ?  I  apprehend  they 
are  not.     *     * 

"  It  cannot  be  denied,  indeed,  that  our  Southern  Brethren 
are  very  sensitive — extremely,  perhaps  excessively  sensitive — 
on  this  subject.  But,  all  things  considered,  can  we  wonder  at 
this?  Have  they  not  reason  to  feel  deeply  on  the  subject? 
Would  it  not  be  an  indication  of  blindness  and  stupidity  truly 
w^onderful,  if  they  did  not  feel  deeply  ?  Were  we  in  their 
situation,  have  we  reason  to  believe  that  we  should  manifest 
less  even  of  morbid  sensibility  in  reference  to  an  object  so 
highly  interesting  in  its  aspect  ?  Let  us,  then,  ever  be  ready 
to  make  allowance  for  their  feelings,  to  treat  them  with  delicacy 
and  respect,  and  carefully  to  avoid  all  language  which  may 
tend  to  excite  unkind  sentiments,  or  to  exhibit  the  appearance 
of  a  divided  country.  The  evil  to  which  we  refer  is  a  national 
evil;  and  there  ought  to  be  a  national  feeling  and  a 
NATIONAL  EFFORT  respecting  it.  Nor  is  this  exhortation  to 
cultivate  a  conciliatory  spirit  in  relation  to  such  a  subject,  to 
be  considered,  by  any  means,  as  a  mere  dictate  of  worldly 
prudence.  I  verily  believe,  judging  from  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament,  that  if  the  apostle  Paul  were  now  on  earth, 
and  were  to  travel  in  the  Southern  States,  and  to  find  the  laws 


1823.]       SERMONS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.  89 

and  the  condition  of  the  country  what  they  are,  he  would  uni- 
formly preach  and  converse  on  this  subject  in  a  manner,  which, 
though  by  no  means  temporizing,  Avouhl  be  considered  as 
kindly,  forbearing,  and  inoffensive  by  all  classes  of  the  people."^ 

Subsequently,  in  this  discourse,  Dr.  Miller  recommends 
gradual  emancipation  ;  efforts  to  elevate  the  intellectual, 
moral,  religious,  social  and  political  condition  of  the  blacks ; 
and  African  colonization.  He  condemns,  strongly,  conspi- 
racies and  insurrections  on  their  part,  to  regain  freedom, 
as  a  mad  and  criminal  attempt ;  and  urges  upon  every 
American  citizen  the  duty  of  endeavoring  to  repair  the 
WTono-s  of  Africa. 

The  Evangelical  and  Literary  Magazine  of  Richmond, 
conducted  by  Dr.  John  H.  Kice,  says, 

"  This  is  a  sermon,  on  a  very  interesting  subject,  by  a  writer 
w'hom  one  is  always  glad  to  meet.  And  we  can  assure  our 
readers  that  the  perusal  of  the  discourse  will  fully  repay  them 
for  the  time  and  money  they  may  expend  on  it.  AVe  can  only 
mention  now,  that  the  Southern  people  are  treated  with  great 
kindness  and  delicacy,  in  discussing  this  ticklish  subject :  we 
find  no  reproaches,  no  bitter  and  provoking  terms,  but  that 
state  of  good  feeling,  which  we  delight  to  see  among  brethren 
and  gentlemen  in  the  Middle  and  Korthern  States,  towards  the 
people  of  the  South.  And  we  are  glad  to  bear  our  testimony 
to  the  undeniable  fact,  that  a  spirit  such  as  we  have  mentioned 
is  increasing ;  local  feelings  are  wearing  away ;  and  Christians 
there  speak  of  us  liere  in  terms  of  fraternal  affection,  well  cal- 
culated to  win  every  heart  not  hardened  by  obstinate  and  long 
indulged  prejudices.  This  is  as  it  should  be:  love  will  at 
length  characterize  all  the  disciples  of  Christ.  jMay  God 
hasten  it  in  his  time."^ 

This  sermon  was  by  no  means  one  of  the  ablest  produc- 
tions of  its  author,  but  is  of  special  interest,  as  illustrating 
the  chanoie  of  opinion  and  feelino;  which  afterwards  came 
over  some  portions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Dr.  Mil- 
ler abated  nothing  of  the  decided  condemnation  of  slavery, 
v/liich  he  had  pronounced  more  than  twenty-five  years  pre- 
viously ;  but  he  employed  language  of  studied  conciliation  ; 
and  this  his  Southern  brethren  were  then  ready  to  ap- 
plaud.    At  a   later  period,   they  would  liavc  been  more 

1  Pp.  4-7.  2  1823.     P.  G16. 


90  CHANGES   AND    LABORS.  [Cil.  26.  2. 

likely  to  stigmatize  it  as  an  impertinent  interference  with 
what  Northerners  had  no  right  to  touch. 

The  African  School,  in  behalf  of  which  the  sermon  just 
mentioned  was  delivered,  seems  to  have  continued  in  exist- 
ence until  1826,  then  to  have  been  abandoned,  and  its 
funds,  bj  agreement  of  the  two  Synods  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  transferred  to  an  African  Education  Society 
formed  in  that  year  at  Newark. 

On  the  23rd  of  October,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  Mr. 
Sprague. 

'I  thank  you,  my  dear  Sir,  for  your  sermon,  received  the 
day  before  your  letter  arrived.  Allow  me  to  say,  that  I  have 
perused  it  with  more  than  common  pleasure,  and  that  I  by  no 
means  regret,  (as  you  feared  I  would,)  that  you  have  published 
it.     It  is  seasonable,  well  executed,  and  will,  I  hope,  be  useful. 

'It  rejoices  my  heart  to  hear  that  the  Lord  is  visiting  your 
congregation  with  his  rich  grace.  Go  on,  my  beloved  young 
Brother ! — preach  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus ;  study  more  and 
more  to  exemplify  it  in  your  life ;  and  be  much  on  your  hiees 
before  God  for  your  people,  as  well  as  on  your  feet  addressing 
them,  and  you  will  find  a  blessing — a  rich  blessing.  The  Lord 
be  with  you,  and  make  you  a  chosen  vessel  for  promoting  his 
glory ! ' 

To  the  Rev.  Jared  Sparks  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'  Dear  Sir.  Princeton,  October  27, 1823. 

*  It  was  not  until  the  evening  before  the  last,  on  my  return 
from  a  journey  of  considerable  length,  that  your  letter  of  the 
18th  of  September,  together  with  the  volume  which  accompa- 
nied it,  was  put  into  my  hands.  I  thank  you  for  the  respectful 
strain  of  your  letter;  and  I  accept,  wath  suitable  acknowledg- 
ments, your  "  Inquiry  into  the  comparative  Moral  Tendency  of 
Trinitarian  and  Unitarian  Doctrines,"  in  a  series  of  letters  ad- 
dressed to  me. 

'  I  have  no  complaint  to  make  of  your  having  transgressed 
the  limits  of  either  decorum  or  moderation  in  your  manner  of 
addressing  me  in  this  work.  I  lament,  indeed,  the  deep  and 
vital  error  with  which  it  abounds,  and  to  the  support  of  which 
it  is  devoted.  And,  though  some  of  its  language  appears  to  me 
to  be  quite  as  liable  to  criticism,  on  the  score  of  severity,  to  say 
the  least,  as  any,  even  the  most  severe,  that  I  had  employed  in 
opposing  Unitarianism;  yet,  on  the  supposition  that  you  are 
in  the  right  as  to  the  substance  of  your  sentiments,  (and  1  have 
no  doubt  you  think  yourself  so,)  it  would  not  be  easy,  so  far  as 
my  recollection  serves  me,  to  convict  you  of  frequent  or  gross 


1823.]       SEKMONS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.  91 

offence  against  the  laws  of  decent  discussion.  Concede  to  me 
the  advantage  of  the  same  just  allowance,  and  our  accounts, 
as  controvertists,  may,  I  think,  be  easily  and  amicably  bal- 
anced. 

'  It  is  not  my  present  intention  to  make  any  public  reply  to 
the  "Letters"  contained  in  the  volume  which  you  have  been 
so  obliging  as  to  send  me ;  not  because  I  have  no  respect  for 
the  talents  and  learning  of  the  author ;  nor  because  I  consider 
the  work  as  destitute  of  such  ingenious  and  plausible  state- 
ments as  are  calculated  to  lead  astray  the  unwary;  but  be- 
cause I  cannot  perceive  that  a  single  important  point  is  set  by 
you  in  a  light  demanding  further  public  notice ;  because  the 
state  of  my  health,  and  other  plans  and  enterprizes  forbid  me 
to  enter  the  lists  with  any  of  my  assailants;  and  because  there 
is  no  end  to  controversy.  As  I  expect,  however,  in  a  short 
time  to  put  a  second  edition  of  my  "Letters  on  Uuitarianism  " 
to  the  press,  I  may  be  induced  by  what  you  have  written,  to 
extend  my  discussion,  and  to  fortify  my  arguments  in  a  few 
cases;  but  without  a  formal  reference  to  any  particular  work. 

'  Here  then,  my  dear  Sir,  I  bid  you  a  respectful  but  melan- 
choly adieu.  Be  assured  I  have  not,  and  never  had,  toward 
you,  an  unkind  feeling.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  the  most 
sincere  and  ardent  desire  to  promote,  as  far  as  it  may  be  in  my 
power,  your  temporal  and  eternal  welfare.  But  when  I  see 
you,  with  endowments  rendering  you  capable  of  highly  valu- 
able services  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world,  groping  in  dark- 
ness concerning  the  plan  of  salvation,  and  exerting  yourself  to 
the  utmost  to  propagate  those  fundamental  errors,  which  must, 
if  persisted  in,  conduct  both  yourself,  and  all  whom  you  per- 
suade to  embrace  them,  to  eternal  perdition — when  I  see  this, 
ought  I  not  to  be  grieved  ?  It  does  grieve  me  to  the  bottom  of 
my  heart.  I  have  as  firm  and  unwavering  a  conviction  that 
this  is  really  the  case,  as  I  have  of  my  own  existence.  It  has 
pleased  God  to  open  my  eyes  on  the  preciousness  of  Christ,  as  a 
divine  Saviour — as  the  Lord  my  righteousness,  and  the  Lord 
my  strength.  Here  I  rest  with  a  confidence  which  nothing  else 
can  inspire.  And  never,  I  am  persuaded,  will  you  know  that 
SAveet  repose  of  soul,  that  humble  joy  and  peace  in  believing, 
which  flow  from  this  confidence,  unless  it  please  God  to  open 
your  eyes  in  a  similar  manner,  and  to  bring  you  to  an  experi- 
mental acquaintance  with  that  "  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  which 
your  pious  ancestors  embraced  and  enjoyed.  That  you  may  be 
made  to  know  and  rejoice  in  this  experimental  acquaintance 
with  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  has  been,  and  shall  be 
again,  my  earnest  prayer. 


92  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [cil.  26.  2. 

^  *  You  may,  perhaps,  be  ready  to  say,  that  this  mode  of  speak- 
iag  indicates  a  degree  of  confidence,  on  my  part,  which  nothing 
can  justify.  But  in  vain  will  this  objection  be  urged  against 
one  whose  consciousness  conspires  with  the  plainest  declara- 
tions of  Scripture  in  supporting  his  confidence.  In  vain  will 
you  tell  a  man  that  a  certain  delightful  article  of  food,  which 
he  has  often  tasted,  does  not  possess  the  sweetness  and  other 
qualities  which  he  ascribes  to  it.  He  hioivs  it  does;  while  you, 
perhaps,  have  never  taken  it  into  your  lips. 

'The  only  time  you  ever  heard  me  preach,  I  had  a  subject 
which  some  of  my  hearers  supposed,  and  you,  possibly,  may 
have  supposed,  to  be  directed  against  yourself  personally.  I 
have  never  allowed  myself  thus  to  abuse  clerical  privileges.  I 
should  think  it  unworthy  of  a  Christian  and  a  gentleman. 
That  sermon  had  been  prepared  and  preached,  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore, in  Princeton,  and  was  afterwards  preached  in  Baltimore 
without  the  alteration  of  a  single  word.  Nor  had  I  the  lea-st 
suspicion,  until  after  the  w^hole  service  was  closed,  that  you 
were  in  the  audience.  As  I  never  allow  myself  to  keep  back 
the  truth  because  a  particular  iudividual' is  present;  so  the 
practice  of  turning  the  eyes  of  an  audience  on  an  individual,  by 
23reaching  at  him,  never  entered  into  my  system. 

*  Pardon  the  freedom  which  I  have  indulged  in  this  letter ; 
and  believe  me  to  be,  with  unfeigned  wishes  for  your  temporal 
and  eternal  happiness, 

*  Your  Sincere  friend, 

'TheKev'd  Jared  Sjmrks.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

To  the  Rev.  Joseph  Sanford,^  who  had  left  the  Seminary 
but  eight  months  previously,  had  subsequently  married, 
and  had  already  lost  his  wife,  Dr.  Miller  said,  in  a  letter 
of  condolence,  dated  the  19th  of  December,  1828, 

"My  dear  young  brother,  perhaps  the  Lord,  by  thus  early 
trying  you  in  the  furnace  of  affliction,  intends  to  prepare  you 
for  a  course  of  peculiar  devotedness  to  his  cause,  and  of  p>eculiar 
usefidness.  If  so,  will  you  not  have  reason  forever  to  praise 
him  for  it  ?  If  so,  will  not  one  of  the  most  mysterious  dispen- 
sations that  has  lately  come  to  my  knowledge,  prove  to  be  full 
of  light,  and  mercy,  and  joy  in  the  end?" 

Dr.  Miller  was  now,  perhaps,  near  the  height  of  his  effi- 
ciency as  a  professor,  and  of  his  general  influence  upon  the 
Theological  Seminary,  and  was  not  without  encouragement 
in  the  appreciation  of  his  labors  by  the  students.     The  First 

iSee  Baird's  Memoir  of  Sanford,  121,  for  the  whole  letter.  4  Sprague's  An- 
nals, 655. 


1824.]  SERMONS   AND    CORRESPONDENCE.  93 

Class  of  1823-4,  addressed  to  hin:i  an  earnest  request,  in 
Avhich  many  of  the  members  of  the  lower  classes  afterwards 
joined,  that  he  would  prepare  a  complete  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, and  also  a  work  on  Church  Government. 

'We  are  emboldened,'  they  say,  *  by  the  consideration,  that 
we  have  heard  enough  from  you  already  to  convince  us,  that 
you  have  the  materials  to  complete  a  history  of  the  Church, 
without  much  additional  filling  up.  You  may  then  comply 
with  our  request,  without  going  through  that  labor  of  investi- 
gation and  writing,  which  the  commencemeut  of  an  under- 
taking so  vast  would  require.  *  =^  Allow  us,  Sir,  to  remind 
you  of  the  growing  extent  of  that  church,  in  whose  service  you 
have  been  and  are  acting  so  beneficial  and  responsible  a  part ; 
of  the  number  of  those  whose  eyes  are  turned  to  you  for  so  in- 
estimable a  gift  as  that  which  we  are  now  soliciting ;  and  the 
especial  eagerness  with  which  it  would  be  hailed  by  numbers 
in  every  section  of  our  natiou,  who  would  receive  it  as  a  mes- 
sage of  love  from  one  whose  memory  they  hold  so  dear ;  and 
who,  in  the  perusal  of  its  pages,  would  have  numberless  im- 
pressions revived  which  time  had  effaced,  and  would  almost 
feel  themselves  transported  to  the  spot,  where  they  have  spent 
so  many  happy  hours,  and  received  so  many  useful  instruc- 
tions.' 

Upon  the  back  of  the  petition  from  the  First  Class, 
dated  January  6,  1824,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'To  this  respectful  application  I  was  constrained  to  return  a 
negative  answer.  If  I  had  begun  such  a  work  ten  years  be- 
fore, I  might  have  hoped  for  time  and  strength  to  accomplish 
it.     But  it  was  now  too  late.' 

To  the  Rev.  Charles  C.  Beatty,^  on  the  16th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1824,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

a  congratulate  you,  my  dear  Sir,  on  your  happv  settlement 
at  Steubenville,  and  your  prospects  of  comfort  and  usefulness. 
My  daily  prayer  is,  that  the  Lord  may  direct  and  stremrthen 
you  in  your  arduous  labors,  and  crown  them  with  abundant 
success.  I  hope  you  will  never  be  permitted,  for  one  hour,  to 
lose  sight  of  the  blessed  fact,  that  it  is  not  by  might  nor  by 
2)ower,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  the  labors  of  the  most 
faithful  ministers  are  rendered  truly  useful.  I  called  this  a 
blessed  fad  j  and  truly  it  is  delightful  to  think,  that  the  success 
of  our  ministry  does  not  depend  upon  our  own  weakness,  but  is 
in  infinitely  better  hands  than  ours,  and  will  be  so  ordered  as 

^  Since,  D.D. 

Vol.  IL— 9. 


94  CHANGES   AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  2. 

to  promote  the  glory  of  his  name,  whose  we  are  and  whom  we 
serve. 

'  It  did  not  surprise  me  to  find,  that  you  had  experienced 
some  difficulties  at  Steubenville.  As  I  had  no  doubt  you  meant 
to  be  faithful,  I  should  have  wondered  if  you  had  not  found 
difficulties.  In  such  a  world  as  this,  where  the  carnal  mind  is 
in  enmity  against  God,  and  wdiere  the  business  of  doing  good 
always  has  been,  and  always  will  be  up-hill  work,  the  minister 
of  Christ  must  not  expect  to  labor  without  opposition.     *     ^ 

'I  have  no  doubt  you  have  been,  and  are,  not  a  little  per- 
plexed by  Mr.  Jennings's  habit  of  inviting  Methodists,  of  almost 
all  characters,  freely  to  his  pulpit.  *  *  yet  it  is  difficult  to 
give  advice  on  such  a  case,  without  knowing  a  great  variety  of 
particular  facts,  with  which  I  am  unacquainted.  All  that  I 
can  say  on  the  subject,  at  this  distance,  and  with  my  ignorance 
of  circumstances,  may  be  comprised  in  the  following  general 
remarks : — 

'1,  If  I  were  situated  as  you  are,  I  would  not  be  governed, 
in  inviting  men  into  my  pulpit,  by  the  name  which  they  bore, 
but  by  the  spirit  and  character  of  each  individual.  Many 
Methodist  preachers  ^  *  I  would  not  invite;  but  others 
who  are  mild,  prudent,  more  nearly  orthodox,  and  who  have 
such  a  sense  of  delicacy  and  propriety  as  to  avoid  saying  any- 
thing to  your  people  that  would  give  offense,  or  be  likely  to  do 
harm — such  I  would  occasionally  invite — just  often  enough  to 
stop  people's  mouths,  and  to  prevent  their  taking  up  the  notion 
that  I  meant  to  invite  none  who  bore  the  JMethodist  name. 

'  2.  While  I  took  this  course,  I  would  say  little  on  the  sub- 
ject to  anybody.  If  you  keep  your  mouth  shut,  and  go  steadily, 
quietly,  and  silently  forward,  on  the  plan  that  I  have  advised, 
you  will  have  but  little  trouble.  But  if  you  allow  yourself  to 
say  much  on  the  subject,  even  to  your  most  intimate  friends, 
you  may  rely  on  it  your  difficulty  will  be  increased.  It  is  im- 
possible to  talk  on  such  a  subject,  without  having  our  remarks 
misunderstood  and  misrepresented.  If  we  undertake  to  say 
what  we  will  do,  and  what  we  will  not  do,  we  shall  probably 
give  offence.  But  if  we  do  the  very  same  thing,  without  say- 
ing a  word  about  it,  the  probability  is  we  shall  give  no  offence. 

*  3.  AVhile  you  pursue  this  course,  preach  the  gospel  faith- 
fully and  warmly,  without  meddling,  by  name,  with  other  de- 
nominations ;  and  visit  your  people  diligently  from  house  to 
house,  paying  iKLrticidaT  attention  to  the  yoiuig  peoj>/e;  and  I 
shall  not  fear  for  your  ultimate  success. 

'You  ask,  whether  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  thinks  that 
Dr.  Priestley  was- a  good  man,  and  is  now  in  heaveU;  ought  to 


1824.]       SERMONS  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.         95 

be  invited  to  your  pulpit.  I  cannot  answer  this  question,  with- 
out knowing  more  of  the  man  than  your  letter  furnishes  me 
with.  If  he  appeared  to  be  a  pious  man,  and  friendly  to  all  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Gospel ;  and  if  I  had  good  reason 
to  believe  he  would  never  throw  out  any  such  absurd  and 
strange  inconsistencies  to  my  people,  I  think  I  should  invite 
him — if  there  were  no  other  objection  in  the  way.  If,  however, 
he  not  only  held  such  an  opinion  concerning  Priestley,  but  was 
also  fond  of  publishing  it  from  the  pulpit,  I  certainly  would 
not  invite  him  into  a  pulpit  of  mine.  Yet  while  I  refrained 
from  inviting  him,  it  would  be  in  silence,  as  I  said  before. 

i  *  *  Qm-  seminary  goes  on  to  flourish,  as  to  the  number 
of  students ;  but  is  greatly  embarrassed  for  want  of  more  ample 
funds,  in  regard  to  which  its  progress  is  very  slow.  But  it  is 
good  to  wait  the  Lord's  time.  When  it  is  best  we  should  have 
funds,  they  will  come.' 

To  the  Assembly  of  1824,  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  made  a  special  report  in  relation  to 
the  funds  of  the  institution.  The  permanent  funds  of  every 
kind  amounted  to  $44, b74. 66,  and  a  debt  of  $11,000  had 
been  incurred  by  loans  to  meet,  from  year  to  year,  a  deficit 
in  the  current  revenue.  Special  agents  to  solicit  contribu- 
tions were  recommended. 

It  was  when  Dr.  Miller  w^as  travelling  in  New  England — 
probably  in  June  1820 — that  he  became  acquainted  with 
the  Rev'd  Asahel  Nettleton;^  and  he  seems  to  have  enter- 
tained, from  the  first,  a  very  high  respect  and  afi'ection  for 
this  truly  great,  and  justly  renowned  evangelist.  We  find 
him,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1824,  writing  to  Mr.  Nettleton, 
and  after  acknowledging  the  reception  of  a  presentation 
copy  of  "Village  Hymns,"  and  strongly  commending  that 
collection,  adding, 

'  I  hear  often  o/you,  my  dear  Brother,  though  not  as  frequently 
from  you  as  I  could  wish ;  and  have  been  truly  sorry  to  learn 
that  your  health  has  been  so  much  impaired.  I  trust,  however, 
that  with  all  your  debility  of  body,  your  spirit  has  been  made 
strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might ;  and  that  the 
precious  work  of  the  Lord  which  you  have  been  permitted  to 
witness  and  to  rejoice  in,  has  been  a  cordial  to  your  heart.  I 
trust  it  has  really  gladdened  my  heart  to  hear  of  those  triumphs 
of  our  Master's  grace,  which  have  taken  place  around  you.  Oh 
that  you  and  I  might  be  allowed  to  witness  them  more  fre- 

iD.  D.  from  1839.     See  2  Sprague's  Annals,  542. 


96  CHANGES   AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  3. 

quently,  and  to  enter  more  deeply  into  their  genuine  spirit  and 
sweetness ! 

'Our  seminary  is  going  on  as  usual — every  year  increasing  in 
the  number  of  its  pupils,  and  I  hope  not  without  tokens  of  our 
Master's  presence  in  the  best  sense.  But,  alas !  if  I  am  not 
deceived,  it  sometimes  does  grieve  me  to  the  very  heart  to  think 
how  far  short  our  pupils,  as  well  as  their  teachers,  fall  of  that 
supreme,  ardent  devotedness  of  soul,  which  ought  to  be  mani- 
fested, with  growing  fervour,  every  hour  that  we  live.  Dear 
Brother,  pray  for  us,  that,  in  this  school  of  the  prophets,  that 
Holy  Spirit  of  sanctification  and  of  zeal,  Vvhich  Ave  daily  pray 
may  be  poured  upon  all  the  churches,  may  be  poured  out  in  his 
most  plenteous  effusions.' 

'  Mrs.  Miller  and  myself  would  be  greatly  gratified  to  see  you 
under  our  roof 

3.  LECTURE  ON  CREEDS  AND  CONFESSIONS. 

The  Rev.  John  M.  Duncan,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  Tammany  street,  Baltimore,  having  been  appointed 
a  director  of  the  Seminary,  delivered,  as  the  preacher  be- 
fore the  Board,  Faculty  and  Students,  upon  the  day  that  he 
took  his  seat,  a  discourse,  which  he  afterwards  published, 
pointedly  condemning  all  creeds  and  confessions.  The  next 
Introductory  Lecture — that  of  the  summer  session — was 
given  by  Dr.  Miller,  who,  with  tacit  reference  to  Mr.  Dun- 
can's address,  chose  "Creeds  and  Confessions''  as  his  sub- 
ject. In  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  it  was  delivered 
the  students  held  a  meeting,  at  vrhich  they  unanimously 
resolved  to  request  a  copy  for  publication.^  Through  their 
committee  they  said,  "In  making  this  request,  the  Students 
would  not  wish  to  be  considered  as  expressing  any  opinion 
upon  the  merits  of  rhe  general  question ;  but  as  influenced 
solely  by  the  desire  that  the  whole  subject  may  come  fairly 
before  the  public."  This  lecture,  with  some  slight  altera- 
tions, and  an  addition  of  six  pages  relating  to  the  proper 
extent  of  creeds,  was  republished  by  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Publication,  as  a  small  volume,  in  1839.^     It  still  pre- 

1  "  The  Utility  and  Importance  of  Creeds  and  Confessions:  an  Introductory 
Lecture,  deliTered  at  the  Opening  of  the  Summer  Session  of  the  Thcoloj^ical 
Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Clnirch,  Princeton,  July  2,  1824.  Ry  Samuel 
Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in 
the  said  Seminary.  "//*  necessariiH  unitas,  in  nan  necessariis  lihcrtas,  in  omnibus 
chnrildn." — Augustin." — 8vo.  Pp.  84. 

2  "The  Utility  and  Importance  of  Creeds  and  Confessions:  addressed  par- 
ticularly to  Candidates  for  the  Ministry.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.  "/»  ncces- 
sariia  unitas,  i'u  7wn  iitcessariis  libertus,  in  omnibus  charitas." — Augustin.'' — 
ISmo.  Pp.  119. 


1824.]    LECTURE  ON  CREEDS  AND  CONFESSIONS.      97 

served,  perliaps  from  oversight,  the  language  of  a  ''seminary'' 
"  lecture"  to  "pupils,"  although  addressed  on  the  title-page 
to  "  Candidates  for  the  Ministry"  in  general.  The  Chris- 
tian Advocate  characterized  it  as  presenting  a  "  masterly 
view  of  the  subject."     It  said, 

"Nothing,  in  our  judgment,  could  be  more  seasonable  than 
the  publication  of  this  lecture,  which  we  certainly  consider  as 
the  ablest  production  of  its  author ;  although  his  ability  before 
was  far  from  being  questionable.  "^  *  It  well  became  a  pro- 
fessor in  a  theological  seminary,  to  guard  his  pupils  against  the 
sophistry  and  specious  pretenses  of  these  innovators ;  especially 
as  their  Coryphaeus  had  given  him  such  a  special  call  to  the 
service:  and  we  do  hope  that  the  publication  of  his  lecture  will 
be  extensively  useful.  *  *  We  are  satisfied  that  all  who 
need  conviction  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  will,  if  they 
read  it  carefully  and  candidly,  find  what  they  need.  Some, 
we  are  aware,  are  beyond  conviction,  and  from  any  one  of  this 
corps,  we  should  exceedingly  like  to  see  an  attempt  to  answer 
this  lecture."^ 

High  church  Episcopalians,  no  less  than  their  Papal 
exemplars,  manifest  a  characteristic  fondness  for  mere 
human  authority,  and  are  specially  addicted  to  quoting 
the  "Fathers"  in  support  of  their  tenets.  It  was  hardly 
to  be  expected,  however,  that  they  would  be  found  appeal- 
ing, in  any  controversy  upon  their  hands,  to  one  of  the 
Princeton  "Fathers,"  and,  least  of  all,  that  Dr.  Miller 
would  be  the  authority  of  their  choice.  Yet  a  writer  in 
the  New  York  Christian  Journal  for  November,  1824, 
seized  upon  the  "Lecture  on  Creeds  and  Confessions,"  as 
a  god-send,  to  bolster  up  Bishop  Hobart  and  the  High- 
church  party  in  their  policy  of  refusing  to  assist  in  the 
dissemination  of  the  Bible  without  the  Prayer  book ;  and 
this  Avriter's-  communication  was  considered  so  important, 
that,  after  its  appearance  in  the  Journal,  it  was  issued  on 
a  separate  sheet  for  much  wider  effect.  Dr.  Miller  had 
suddenly  been  discovered  to  be  very  "  eminent  and  judi- 
cious," by  those  who  had  certainly  been  at  no  small  pains, 
to  persuade  the  religious  public,  that  they  thought  him 
just  the  reverse.     The  writer  in  question  remarks, 

"  I  have  lately  been  much  gratified  by  the  perusal  of  a  lec- 

13  Vol.,  (1825,)  8G. 

9* 


98  CHANGES   AND    LABORS.  [CH.   26.  3. 

ture,  delivered  before  the  students  of  the  Presbyterian  Seminary 
at  Princeton,  by  the  Rev.  Professor  Miller,  entitled,  "  The 
Utility  and  importance  of  Creeds  and  Confessions."  As  it  con- 
tains much  sound  argument,  clothed  in  very  forcible  language, 
on  a  subject  which,  I  apprehend,  is  yet  to  produce  dissensions 
in  the  christian  world,  I  have  thought  proper  to  transcribe  some 
of  the  most  important  passages  for  insertion  in  the  Journal. 
The  doctrines  contained  in  this  Lecture,  are  materially  the 
same  as  those  which  have  been  maintained  and  acted  upon,  for 
years,  by  Bishop  Hobart  and  other  judicious  Episcopalians  in 
the  United  States.  Those  gentlemen  wdll  learn  with  satisfaction, 
that  not  only  the  professors  at  Princeton,  but  the  highest  au- 
thority in  the  Presbyterian  communion,  to  wit,  the  General 
Assembly,^  have,  within  a  few  months  past,  given  their  sanction 
to  princij^les  which  have  heretofore  drawn  upon  consistent 
Churchmen  the  obloquy  and  indignation  of  other  denominations, 
and  even  of  some  of  "  their  own  household."  Bishop  Hobart 
and  his  friends  will  have  nothing  to  fear  hereafter  from  men 
who  profess  to  circulate  the  Scriptures  "  without  note  or  com- 
ment ;"  and  who  accuse  such  of  their  opponents  as  advocate 
the  distribution  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Bible,  of  being  "  guilty  of  the  Romish  error  of  im- 
pugning the  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  rule  of  faith." 

After  giving  a  number  of  extracts  from  Dr.  Miller's  lecture 
and  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly,  and  com2)aring  them  with 
Bishop  Hobart's  published  opinions,  the  writer  says,  "  After 
such  explicit  language  from  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  judi- 
cious Presbyterians  in  our  country,  which  agrees  with  the  sen- 
timents of  the  General  Assembly  of  his  Church,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  question  will  forever  be  put  to  rest,  whether  it 
is  expedient  for  Churchmen  to  unite  with  other  denominations 
in  disseminating  the  Scriptures.     *     *  " 

To  this  article  Dr.  Miller  replied,  in  the  Christian  Jour- 
nal, as  follows : — 

*'Mr.  Editor, — As  I  am  not  a  subscriber  to  the  Christian 
Journal,  and  seldom  see  any  of  its  numbers,  it  was  by  accident, 
and  only  within  a  few  days,  that  I  met  with  the  number  for 
last  month.  In  turning  over  its  pages,  I  was  not  a  little  sur- 
prised to  find  a  communication  subscribed  "  Catholicus,"  and 
entitled,  "  Presbyterian  sentiments  on  the  best  mode  of  dissemi- 
nating the  truths  of  Scripture," — in  which  a  most  extraordinary 
construction  is  put  on  the  leading  opinions  expressed  in  my 
Introductory  Lecture  on  "  Creeds  and  Confessions,"  and  some 

1  Minutes  1824,  pp.  211,  212. 


1824.]        LECTURE    ON    CREEDS    AND    CONFESSIONS.  99 

no  less  extraordinary  inferences  drawn  from  that  construction. 
My  first  impression  was,  that  no  public  notice  of  this  communi- 
cation, on  my  part,  was  required.  The  representation  w^hieh  it 
gave  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Lecture  appeared  to  me  so  manifestly 
unwarranted,  and,  indeed,  I  must  say,  such  an  extravagant 
perversion,  that  I  thought  it  might  safely  be  left  to  the  good 
sense  of  every  reader.  But,  finding  that  some  persons  really 
seem  to  form  a  different  estimate  of  this  publication  from  that 
which  I  should  have  expected ;  that  measures  have  been  taken 
to  give  it  circulation  in  a  detached  form,  beyond  the  ordinary 
sphere  of  the  Journal  in  which  it  originally  appeared ;  and  that 
some  of  my  friends  think  it  ought  not  to  pass  unnoticed;  I  beg 
leave  to  occupy  a  single  page  of  your  miscellany  with  a  brief 
reply  to  the  singular  remarks  of  Catholicus.  If  nothing  had 
been  in  question,  Mr.  Editor,  but  the  merits  of  my  humble 
Lecture,  you  certainly  w^ould  not  have  heard  a  syllable  from 
me  on  the  present  occasion.  But  it  would  really  grieve  me  to 
be  thought  an  enemy  of  Bible  Societies,  or  capable  of  inten- 
tionally uttering  a  word  hostile  to  their  universal  establishment 
and  triumph.  Nor  did  it  ever  occur  to  me  that  there  was  any 
more  connexion  between  my  doctrine  concerning  "  Creeds,"  and 
such  hostility,  than  between  my  belief  in  Presbyterian  parity, 
and  the  heresy  of  Socinianism.  And  whether  the  efforts  of 
your  correspondent,  to  represent  me  as  agreeing  with  his  dio- 
cesan, do  not  betray  the  weakness  of  a  bad  cause,  I  shall  leave 
to  the  consideration  of  discerning  and  reflecting  readers. 

"It  is  neither  my  province  nor  my  design  to  enter  into 
'any  discussion  concerning  the  correctness  of  Bishop  Hobart's 
opinions.  But  I  must  be  allowed  strongly  to  deprecate  being 
supposed  to  agree  with  him  in  reference  to  Bible  Societies.  If 
I  have  understood  the  scope  of  what  has  been  said  and  wTitten 
against  that  gentleman  in  relation  to  this  subject,  it  is — not  that 
he  is  zealously  attached  to  his  own  church ;  not  that  he  admires 
and  loves  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  is  earnestly  desirous 
of  putting  it  into  the  hands  of  every  human  being  to  whom  it 
can  possibly  be  conveyed.  For  all  this  I  have  never  heard 
him  blamed  by  any  one :  but  for  being  unw'illing  to  unite  with 
any  society,  the  object  of  which  was  to  circulate  the  word  of 
God  ALONE.  Now,  as  to  this  point,  I  totally  differ  from  him, 
both  in  principle  and  practice.  I  consider  the  Scriptures  as  the 
ONLY  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  and  as  a  sufficient 
rule  for  all  who  approach  them  with  humble  and  honest  hearts. 
I  am,  therefore,  perfectly  willing  to  co-operate  with  any  and 
every  person  in  sending  them,  without  note  or  comment,  to 
every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam.     I  consider  it  as  a  privilegQ 


100  CHANGES   AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  3. 

and  an  honor  to  be  a  member  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
and  of  every  other  Bible  Society  within  convenient  reach :  and 
my  impressions  of  the  importance  of  these  societies,  in  promoting 
the  best  interests  of  the  world,  is  so  far  from  being  impaired, 
that  it  is  daily  becoming  deeper. 

"  In  full  consistency,  as  it  appears  to  me,  with  all  this, — when 
I  go  into  the  pulpit,  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me,  not  only  to 
recommend  the  Bible,  in  general,  to  my  hearers,  but  also  to 
declare  to  them  lioiu  I  understand  it     When  called  upon  to 
assist  in  ordaining  a  minister,  I  deem  it  indispensable  to  ascer- 
tain, by  appropriate  measures,  how  the  living  teacher  whom  I 
am  about  to  aid  in  sending  forth,  is  likely  to  explain  the  Word 
of  Life  which  we  commission  him  to  preach.     And  when  an 
opportunity  is  presented,  I  do  not  fail  to  recommend  and  cir- 
culate the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  form  of  Government 
and  Discipline  of  my  own  Church.     But  I  should  abhor  the 
thought  of  withholding  a  Bible  from  an  ignorant,  destitute 
fellow-creature,  until  I  could  accompany  the  delivery  of  it  with 
my  own  formulas  and  articles.     Just  as  soon  should  I  think  of 
withholding  a  piece  of  bread  from  a  starving  beggar,  until  I 
had  previously  engaged  him  to  come  under  the  government  of 
my  own  family.     I  am  quite  willing  to  trust  the  Bible  alone  in 
the  hands  of  every  inhabitant  of  the  globe;  and  to  leave  the 
question,  whether  they  shall  be  connected  with  this  or  that  de- 
nomination, to  their  own  serious  and  deliberate  decision,  aided 
by  that  enlightening  and  sanctifying  Spirit,  who  leads  his  people 
into  all  necessary  truth.     If  I  believed,  indeed,  that  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  Church  of  which  I  am  a  member  were  essential' 
to  salvation ;  or  that  it  was  impossible  for  a  serious  inquirer  to 
understand  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Scriptures,  without 
the  assistance  of  my  formularies  and  expositions,  my  conduct 
would  be  different.     But,  as  I  believe  neither,  I  am,  of  course, 
not  embarrassed  with  any  of  the  consequences  of  such  belief. 
It  is  time  enough,  in  my  opinion,  when  persons  make  inquiries 
with  a  view  to  join  a  particular  denomination,  or  put  themselves 
in  the  way  of  being  taught  its  peculiarities,  to  meet  them — if 
candidates  for  private  membership,  with  those  views  of  doctrine 
and  order; — or  if  aspirants  to  the  ministry,  with  those  "Creeds 
and  Confessions" — -the  reception  of  which  appears  to  me  indis- 
pensable to  the  attainment  of  ecclesiastical  concord  and  edifica- 
tion.    Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  will  never  have  an 
opportunity  of  coming  v/ithin  the  pale  of  my  own  Church, — and 
who  might  not  be  disposed  to  do  it,  if  they  had, — may  yet  be 
willing  to  receive  Bibles  from  amj  hands,  and  may  be  forever 
benefited  by  them.     Ought  I  to  withhold  from  them  the  precious 


1824.]    LECTURE  ON  CREEDS  AND  CONFESSIONS.     101 

gift?  I  dare  not  do  it.  And  I  am  so  far  from  seeing  an  in- 
consistency between  this  decision,  and  the  doctrine  which  I  have 
taught  concerning  Church  "creeds,"  that  they  appear  to  me  to 
illustrate  and  strengthen  each  other. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  yours  respectfully, 
"Princeton,  Dec.  2-it7i,  1824.  Samuel  Miller." 

It  '^as  certainly  a  despeiate  expedient,  to  attempt  to 
make  capital  for  the  Romanizing  opponents  of  Bible  Soci- 
eties out  of  the  opinions  of  one,  who  was  w^ell  known  to  be 
among  the  firmest  friends  and  most  active  supporters  of 
those  institutions.  Self-blinded,  at  best,  must  they  have 
been,  who  would  see  no  difference  between  insisting  on 
creeds  for  denominational  protection  and  extension,  or  as 
convenient  text  books,  and  insisting  upon  them  as  neces- 
sary accompaniments  of  the  Bible — between,  on  the  one 
hand,  simply  desiring  and  striving  that  all  might  under- 
stand the  Holy  Scriptures  in  a  certain  way,  deemed  the 
right  way ;  and,  on  the  other,  refusing  to  give  the  Scrip- 
tures without  some  earnest  of  their  beino-  so  understood. 
But  the  "  Fathers"  have  often  suffered  thus  from  professed 
disciples.  From  holding  back  God's  Word,  until  our  com- 
ments can  go  with  it,  there  is  but  a  short  step  to  discour- 
aging, or  even  prohibiting,  its  circulation  altogether. 
Rome  says,  the  comment — the  creed — alone  is  sufficient: 
why  trouble  the  people  with  the  text,  when  they  are  not 
to  interpret  it  for  themselves  ?  On  High-church  princi- 
ples, the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  all  that  any  one  need 
be  "  troubled  with ;"  and  is  certainly  preferable  to  the 
Scriptures,  where  both  cannot  be  had :  nay,  the  latter  is 
only  a  dangerous  book  without  the  former. 

In  curious  contrast  with  this  Hicrh-church  laudation  of 
the  Lecture  on  Creeds,  and  a  more  honorable  testimony  to 
its  merits,  was  a  critique  which  came  from  the  depths  of 
Socinianism.  Not  many  months  after  that  lecture  was 
published.  The  Unitarian  Miscellany  of  Baltimore  expired. 
Dying  agonies  should,  perhaps,  never  be  severely  judged, 
and  especially  not  in  this  case,  if  the  IMiscellany  was  dying 
of  wounds  received  in  its  recent  conflict  with  Dr.  Miller  ; 
but  some  of  its  "  last  words"  may,  at  least,  be  given  as  a 
specimen  of  "  Liberal  Christianity."  In  the  farewell 
number,  the  Lecture  on  Creeds,  or  rather  its  author,  was 
thus  noticed : — 


102  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  4. 

"In  the  first  place,  lieretiG  is  a  word  wliicli  comes  to  liis  lips 
as  readily,  and  is  dealt  about  as  generously,  as  if  he  were  the 
head  of  the  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Ciiurch  himself.  In- 
deed, we  never  think  of  him  now,  that  he  does  not  present  him- 
self to  our  mind,  with  a  triple  crown  on  his  head,  and  a  couple 
of  great  keys  in  his  hand." 

"All  the  liberality  and  candour,  for  which  Unitarians  would 
ever  be  distinguished,  does  not  require  them  to  be  abused  in 
this  way,  without  sending  back  a  bold  and  honest  word  in 
reply.  At  any  rate,  we  will  not  do  so  ourselves.  We  tvill  say 
to  Dr.  Miller,  that  all  his  talk  about  "  corrupt  opinions,"  and 
"  indifference  to  truth,"  and  "  awful  gulphs,"  and  "  awful  rava- 
ges," is  miserable  cant,  and  is  not  worth  a  serious  refutation. 
We  ivill  say  to  him,  that  of  all  the  theological  ivriters  of  the 
present  time  in  this  country,  he  has  the  distinction  of  being 
the  most  bitterly  and  joerseveringly  illiberal;  that  we  know  not 
of  what  kind  of  fame  he  may  be  ambitious,  but  if  he  continue 
much  longer  in  the  course  which  he  is  pursuing,  he  ivill  be  re- 
garded by  all  the  moderate  and  judicious,  and  he  will  go  down 
to  posterity,  as  the  arch-bigot  of  his  day.  If  that  is  a 
reputation  w^hich  he  covets,  he  is  in  a  fair  way  of  acquiring  it. 
And  these  are  our  last  words  to  Dr.  Miller."^ 

"Liberal  Christians"  v/ill  certainly  suffer  in  Christian 
character,  until  they  have  learned  a  little  more  of  him, 
"  AYho,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again;  when  he 
suffered,  threatened  not."  And  those,  who  regard  real 
liberality  as  true  enlargement  of  mind,  will  hardly  dis- 
cover it  in  the  theory,  that  he  who  sincerely  believes  a  doc- 
trine to  be  destructive  of  man's  eternal  interests,  must, 
nevertheless,  not  so  declare.  It  has  always,  indeed,  been 
a  favorite  idea  with  these  "  Liberals,"  that  men  are  not 
acountable  for  their  belief;  but  certainly  they  were  dis- 
posed to  hold  Dr.  Miller,  before  their  own  tribunal,  to  a 
pretty  strict  account. 

4.  Death  of  Elizabeth  Miller. 

During  much  the  greater  part  of  her  life  in  Princeton, 
Mrs.  Miller,  with  some  other  female  members  of  the 
church, — at  times  only  one  other, — kept  up  a  weekly  even- 
ing female  prayer  meeting,  at  the  houses,  each  in  its  turn, 
of  those  who  p;  rticipated,  excepting  when  peculiar  circum- 

1  See  8  Lit.  and  Evang.  Mag.,  (Richmond,  Va.,)  134. 


1824.]       DEATH  OF  ELIZABETH  MILLER.  103 

stances,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  made  some  one  of 
these  houses  the  only  convenient  place.  In  July,  1821, 
Dr.  Miller  -writes  to  his  wife,  who  was  sojourning  with 
their  invalid  daughter,  Elizabeth,  at  Schooley's  Mountain, 
that  the  ladies  had  met  in  her  bed-room  the  evening  of  her 
departure, 

Mrs.  Miller's  visits  to  Schooley's  Mountain,  while  justi- 
fied in  her  mind  chiefly  by  the  claims  of  health,  were 
always  made  occasions  of  effort  for  the  good  of  those  with 
whom  she  came  in  contact.  During  this  visit,  vdien  she 
and  her  daughter  Elizabeth  might  both  have  been  expected 
to  be  wholly  engrossed  in  the  vain  struggle  of  the  latter 
with  disease  and  languor,  they  were  both  in  fact  planning 
for  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Heath 
House,  where  they  found  pleasant  accommodations,  but 
constantly  had  reason  to  deplore  the  lack  of  religious 
privileges  within  the  easy  reach  of  the  surrounding  settled 
population  and  the  summer  guests.  The  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Hackettstown,  four  miles  off,  and  that  at  German 
Valley,  somewhat  nearer,  but  perhaps  not  more  easily  ac- 
cessible, were  the  chief  resorts  of  worshippers  from  the 
Mountain,  but  were,  of  course,  too  far  away  for  those  who 
had  no  particular  religious  zeal.  Mrs.  Miller  and  Eliza- 
beth suggested  to  Mr.  Marsh,  their  enterprizing  and  esti- 
mable host,  himself  sincerely  interested  in  the  religious 
condition  of  the  neighborhood,  the  erection  of  a  small 
place  of  worship,  near  the  boarding  house,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  both  residents  and  visitors,  and  to  be  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Campbell,  pastor  of  the 
Hackettstown  Church.  Elizabeth  manifested  so  much  in- 
terest in  the  undertaking,  and  her  wasted  form  and  alabas- 
ter complexion  added  so  much  to  the  impression  of  her 
saintliness,  that  the  success  of  the  enterprise  was  by  some 
attributed  chiefly  to  her  prayers.  Mrs.  Miller  promised 
to  interest,  if  possible,  some  of  her  Philadelphia  acquaint- 
ances, especially  those  v.ho  frequented  the  Mountain,  in 
the  project,  as  well  as  to  contribute  herself;  and,  accord- 
ingly, she  wrote,  soon  after  Elizabeth's  death,  mentioning 
it  to  Alexander  Henry,  Esquire,  whose  name,  coupled 
with  his  laro-e  hearted  Christian  benevolence  and  zeal  for 
the  church,  Avill  be  lield  in  everlasting  remembrance.     He 


104  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CII.  26.  4. 

heartily  seconded  her  proposal,  and  materially  aided  in  the 
undertaking.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  regarded  their  part  in 
the  work  as  a  thank-offering  for  the  peaceful  and  happy 
death  of  their  departed  daughter.  The  deed  of  the  build- 
ino:  was  for  some  reason  executed  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
Theological  Seminary.  Mr.  Marsh  wrote,  in  April,  'With 
the  exception  of  four  or  five  persons,  the  whole  neighbor- 
hood is  engaged  heart  and  soul  in  furthering  the  project, 
and  it  has  been  already  remarked,  that  never  before  in  this 
part  of  the  country  has  a  public  building  been  erected  with 
so  much  unanimity,  and  with  so  much  zeal.'  On  the  24th 
of  August,  1825,  Mr.  Henry  Avrote, 

^Just  returned  from  my  summer's  jaunt,  I  cannot  omit 
stating  to  you  the  pleasure  felt  by  professing  Christians  in  see- 
ing so  neat  and  eligible  a  building  erected  near  the  two  board- 
ing houses  on  Schooley's  Mount.  Much  did  I  wish  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  there.  I  think  my  heart  would 
have  joined  with  yours  in  thankfulness  to  the  Father  of 
mercies,  for  ]3utting  it  into  your  heart,  and  that  of  your  dear 
departed  daughter  first  suggesting  the  idea,  and  then  for  the 
efficient  means  contributed.  *  *  On  Sabbath,  the  8th  of 
August,  the  building  was  opened  in  the  afternoon  by  Mr. 
Campbell.  His  sermon  was  solemn  and  impressive.  *  * 
There  is  every  reasonable  expectation,  that  divine  service  will 
be  regularly  held,  all  the  season,  in  the  afternoon  of  every 
Sabbath,  and  occasionally  during  the  week. 

'  The  building  is  on  a  very  prominent  piece  of  ground  *  * 
its  dimensions  are  forty  by  thirty-five  feet ;  it  is  built  of  stone 
and  plastered,  with  a  cupola  intended  for  a  bell.  *  *  It  has 
two  stories.  The  upper  room  is  intended  for  a  day-school 
during  the  week,  and  a  Sunday-school. 

To  Miss  Elizabeth  Sergeant,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the 
6th  of  September, 

'At  the  date  of  the  last  letter  to  you,  our  dear  Elizabeth, 
though  deemed  in  a  very  critical  situation,  was  yet  thought  in 
danger  only  on  account  of  her  previous  extreme  feebleness. 
She  continued  very  much  in  that  situation  until  yesterday 
morning,  when,  for  the  first  time,  she  gave  decided  evidence, 
that  she  was  rapidly  sinking  under  the  power  of  disease.  *  * 
The  arrival  of  the  closing  scene,  however,  has  been  even  more 
speedy  than  we  then  anticipated.  About  half  after  two  o'clock 
this  afternoon,  she  expired  with  the  most  perfect  ease  and 


1825.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  105 

tranquility  that  you  ever  witnessed.  Thus,  after  the  weakness 
and  the  sufferings  of  near  two  years,  has  our  beloved  child,  we 
humbly  trust,  exchanged  a  world  of  sin  and  sorrow  for  fulness 
of  joy  and  pleasure  for  ever  more.  We  have  many  things  to 
comfort  us  on  this  mournful  occasion.  He  who  gave,  and  who 
had  a  right  to  take  away,  has  resumed  the  gift  under  many 
circumstances  for  which  we  have  reason  evermore  to  praise 
him.' 

Every  death  in  the  family,  solemn  and  impressive  as  it 
must  have  been  in  any  possible  circumstances,  was  rendered 
doubly  so,  by  a  studied  effort,  on  the  part  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Miller,  to  make  the  death-scene  an  occasion  of  deep  relig- 
ious, as  well  as  natural  sensibility.  When  Elizabeth  was 
found  to  be  dying,  the  whole  family  were  assembled  in  the 
chamber,  and,  bowing  around  the  bed,  were  led  in  earnest 
supplication,  by  her  father,  that  Jesus  would  be  near  and 
very  gracious  to  her  in  her  departure.  As  all  rose  from 
their  knees,  she  gently  expired.  Her  mother,  the  while 
watchfully  bending  over  her,  remarked,  at  the  moment, 
that  the  spirit  seemed  to  have  tarried,  to  catch  the  last 
breath  of  that  prayer  on  earth,  ere  it  returned  to  God  who 
gave  it.  Assured  that  it  had,  indeed,  taken  its  flight,  all 
kneeled  again,  immediately,  at  the  father's  bidding,  to 
pray,  no  less  earnestly,  for  a  blessing,  with  the  affliction,  to 
every  survivor. 

5.  Miscellaneous  Topics. 
To  Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'My  dear  Brother,  Princeton,  January  31,  1825. 

'  I  have  several  times,  of  late,  felt  as  if  we  were,  somehow  or 
other,  suffering  our  fraternal  intercourse  to  wear  out.  I  am 
anxious  to  "  brighten  the  chain."  Receive  then,  a  few  lines, 
written  in  haste,  as  a  testimony  of  an  earnest  desire  to  renew 
our  correspondence.  If  you  cannot  be  profited  by  anything 
that  I  can  say,  I  am  well  persuaded  that  I  can  derive  both 
pleasure  and  profit  from  the  slightest  epistolary  effusions  of 
your  pen. 

'Since  I  saw  you,  we  have  consigned  to  the  dust  the  remains 
of  our  dear  daughter  Elizabeth,  whom  you  noticed  as  so  ema- 
ciated and  feeble.  Her  latter  end  was  peaceful,  and  we  have 
no  doubt  that  she  has  exchanged  ours  for  infinitely  better  soci- 
ety. But  still  we  feel  as  parents ;  and  her  vacant  place  at  our 
Vol.  II.— 10. 


106  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  5. 

table,  and  in  our  domestic  circle,  often  reminds  us  of  what  we 
have  lost. 

'  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  say,  when  you  reply  to  this  letter, 
that  your  health  is  completely  restored,  and  that  Mrs.  Rice  and 
yourself  are  revelling  (I  use  the  w^ord  in  a  good,  christian 
sense)  in  the  salubrities,  the  comforts,  and  the  usefulness  of 
Prince  Edward.  It  will  give  us  all  great  pleasure  to  be  told 
that  this  is  the  case. 

*  Allow  me  to  thank  you  heartily  for  your  review  of  Bishop 
Ravenscroft ;  for,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  style  unequivocally  dis- 
closes that  it  is  yours.  It  is  as  clear,  strong,  and  satisfactory, 
on  the  score  of  talent,  as  it  is  excellent  in  respect  to  its  spirit. 
It  is,  in  fact,  I  think,  everything  that  could  be  wished.  I  feel 
indebted  to  you  for  it.     *     ''' 

'Do  you  know  that  the  same  man  has  been  lately  preaching 
a  sermon  before  the  Bible  Society  of  North  Carolina,  in  which 
he  went  full  length  with  Hobart  in  denouncing  Bible  Societies ; 
that  he  has  since  defended  his  sermon  in  the  jDublic  papers ; 
and  that  the  sermon  itself  is  about  to  be  printed,  or  probably 
is  printed  before  this  time?  I  most  sincerely  hope  you  will 
give  it  a  searching  and  faithful  review.  I  do  not  know  a  sub- 
ject, by  writing  on  which,  in  your  best  manner,  you  would  be 
likely  to  do  more  good.  Such  a  spirit,  I  think,  may  and  ought 
to  be  put  down  in  the  South.  It  could  not  be  supported  in 
New  York,  were  it  not  backed  by  the  ample  funds  of  Trinity 
Church.  For  my  part,  I  cannot  see  w^herein  this  anti-Biblical 
doctrine  differs,  at  all,  in  its  essence,  from  the  Popish  doctrine 
on  the  same  subject;  and  I  could  wish  to  see  this  set  in  a  strong 
light.  In  his  new^spaper  vindication,  he  lays  it  down  as  a 
principle,  that  the  fundamental  position  of  the  Bible  Societies 
is,  that  the  o)ily  proper  way  to  propagate  gospel  truth  is  by 
circulating  the  Bible  without  note  or  comment.  Now  he  knows, 
that  the  great  mass  of  the  patrons  of  Bible  Societies,  in  the 
United  States,  and  certainly  the  most  zealous,  active,  and  in- 
fluential among  them,  hold  to  the  importance  and  necessity  of 
a  gospel  ministry;  and  fully  believe  that  the  living  teacher,  as 
well  as  the  written  w^ord,  is  indispensable  to  the  regular  organ- 
ization and  the  successful  extension  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Allow  me  to  request,  as  a  favor,  that  you  will  speedily  take  up 
this  subject,  and  give  Ravenscroft,  et  id  omne  genus,  a  thorough 
castigation  in  your  good,  christian  vray.  It  may  do  them  good 
as  long  as  they  live,  and  certainly  will  be  likely  to  do  the 
cause  of  truth  good. 

'We  have  nothing  new.  The  number  of  students  in  our 
Seminary  is  a  little  rising  a  hundred.  We  shall  be  glad  to 
hear  that  yours  is  flourishing,     "^     * 


1825.]  MISCELLANEOUS    TOPICS.  107 

*  P.  S.  Dr.  Livingston,  of  New  Brunswick,  died  on  the  20th 
instant,  very  suddenly.  He  lectured  the  day  before,  and  ap- 
peared as  well  as  usual ;  retired  in  his  ordinary  health,  and  at 
eight  o'clock  next  morning  was  found  dead  in  his  bed !  It  was 
ascertained  that  he  had  not  been  dead  more  than  an  hour.' 

For  Dr.  Livingston  Dr.  Miller,  to  the  end,  had  entertaiii- 
ed  the  utmost  aifectionate  regard,  keeping  up  carefully 
with  him  a  brotherly  intercourse.  On  one  occasion  he 
urged  his  aged  friend  to  pay  him  a  visit  in  Princeton. 
"What  would  you  do  with  me  in  Princeton?" — asked  the 
Doctor,  rather  sharply.  "Sit  at  your  feet,"  returned  Dr. 
Miller,  "  and  learn  Theology."  The  venerable  man  was, 
in  a  moment,  completely  disarmed.  "May  God'.j  blessing 
rest  upon  you!"  he  said,  extending  his  hands.  To  the 
published  Life  of  Dr.  Livingston,  by  Alexander  Gunn,  Dr. 
Miller  contributed,  under  date  of  the  15th  of  November, 
1828,  a  lonor  letter,  recordino;  his  interested   recollections.^ 

Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  Dr.  Green, 

'Rev'd  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  April  30,  1825. 

'You  probably  remember  that  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  last  General  Assembly,^  of  which  you  are  a 
member,  and  I,  unfortunately  am  chairman,  to  consider  and 
report  on  the  subject  of  some  improvement  in  the  mode  of  con- 
ducting the  business  of  the  Assembly.  Have  you  thought  of 
this  matter?  As  you  were  present  during  the  discussions  on 
the  subject,  I  should  be  greatly  gratified  to  know  what  has 
struck  your  mind.  I  really  have  not  thought  of  anything  be- 
yond what  was  suggested  last  year.  As  to  appointing  a  subor- 
dinate board  to  try  appeals,  etc.,  it  does,  I  confess,  appear  to 
me  altogether  contrary  to  principle ;  so  that  I  should  be,  ac- 
cording to  my  present  views,  against  even  proposing  such  an 
alteration  in  the  constitution  to  the  Presbyteries.' 

During  the  early  summer  of  this  year.  Dr.  Miller  visited 
"Western  New  York  and  Niagara  Falls.  The  trip  was  evi- 
dently for  health  and  recreation,  and  occupied  from  the  9th 
to  the  27tli  of  June  inclusive.  Plis  itinerary  illustrates 
the  entire  revolution  which  travelling  has  undergone,  as  to 
its  modes,  since  that  day.  Driving  from  Princeton  to  New 
Brunswick,  he  went  to  New  York  City,  and  thence  to 
Albany,   by  steamboat;  to   Schenectady,  then,  by  stage- 

1  Pp.  511-525. 

2Sgo  Minutes,  1824,  200.   1825,  276;  182C,  28.  32,  37-4<i. 


108  CHANGES    AXD    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  5. 

coach,  and  to  Utica  bj  canal.  His  adventures  on  the  lat- 
ter extort  from  him  the  marginal  exclamation,  '  Highly  in- 
teresting day!'  By  stage-coach,  again,  he  went  forward, 
through  Vernon  and  Manlius,  to  Auburn;  thence,  through 
Seneca  Falls,  Waterloo  and  Geneva,  to  Canandaigua  ;  from 
Canandaigua  to  Rochester;  thence  to  Lewistown ;  thence 
to  the  Falls ;  thence  to  Black  Rock  and  Buffalo ;  thence 
through  Batavia  and  Avon  to  Canandaigua;  whence  he 
returned  as  he  had  gone.  The  first  Sabbath  of  his  ab- 
sence, he  preached  twice  in  the  Cedar  street  church,  in 
New  York  City,  where  he  had  also  preached,  on  Saturday, 
the  lecture  preparatory  to  the  communion ;  the  second  Sab- 
bath, at  Niagara  Falls ;  the  third,  in  Jersey  City. 

Dr.  Miller  delivered,  in  1825,  a  hastily  prepared  dis- 
course before  *'The  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of 
New  Jersey,"  which  the  Society  published.^  At  very  short 
notice  he  had  been  called  to  take  the  place  of  Chief  Justice 
Kirkpatrick,  President  of  the  Society,  from  wdiom  an  ad- 
dress had  been  expected.  This  discourse  was  assigned  to 
the  forenoon  of  the  day,  in  the  afternoon  of  which  the 
Honorable  Samuel  L.  Southard  delivered  the  first  annual 
address  before  the  "American  Whig"  and  "Cliosophic" 
Societies  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  according  to  a  plan 
then  recently  adopted  by  those  Societies. 

To  Mr.  Sprague,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  19th  of  October, 

'  It  is  unnecessary  to  say,  that  offering  advice  on  such  a  sub- 
ject as  that  on  which  you  address  me,  is,  at  all  times,  a  delica^te 
and  difficult  business.  I  will  write,  however,  with  paternal 
freedom  to  one,  who,  I  know,  will  receive  kindly  whatever  I 
say,  assured  that  it  is  well  meant,  and  assured,  also,  that  if  it 
should  be  wholly  disregarded,  he  who  offers  it  will  not  experience 
a  single  wounded  feeling.     *     * 

(  j^  ^  >;<  •!>  J  regarded  chiefly  your  talents  as  a  sermonizer, 
or  as  a  composer  and  deliverer  of  sermons,  I  should  advise 
you,  without  much  scruple,  to  go  to  New  York.  It  is  my 
candid  opinion,  that,  on  this  score,  you  have  no  particular 
reason  to  be  apprehensive  of  danger  in  removing  to  a  city. 
But, 

1  "A  Discourse,  delivered  in  the  Chapel  of  Nassau  Tlall,  before  the  Liternry 
and  Philosophical  Society  of  New-Jersey,  at  its  first  Annual  Mectino;,  Septem- 
ber 27,  1825.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Eeelesiastieal  History  and 
Church  Gorernment  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  of  the  said  Society.  "  Manua  desnnt  ^)o«r'ej<?(7>«8  arris." '^ — 
8vo.   Pp.  39. 


1825.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  109 

*  XL  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  contrive  to  vi?it  New  York, 
in  compliance  with  the  invitation,  without  exposing  yourself  to 
extreme  clanger.  The  probability,  I  think,  is,  that  if  you  visit 
tlxe  city,  you  will  be  called  to  settle  there;  but  it  is  possible 
you  may  not  be ;  and,  if  not,  will  not  the  whole  thing  be  known 
to  the  public,  and  inevitably  injure  you  among  the  people  of 
your  present  charge?  Unless  you  can  be  certain  of  accomplish- 
ing your  visit,  without  the  object  of  it  being  known,  or  even 
suspected,  which  I  fear  will  not  be  possible,  the  step  will  cer- 
tainly be  a  very  hazardous  one.     *     * 

*  III.  Your  health,  if  I  understand  the  matter,  though  now 
pretty  good,  is  generally  delicate,  and  requires  constant  nursing 
and  care.  Now,  whether  you  know  it  or  not,  the  danger  of 
going  into  a  great  city  with  such  a  state  of  health,  is  greater, 
far  greater,  than  any  one,  who  has  not  made  the  experiment, 
can  imagine.  In  the  place  of  your  present  residence,  you  have 
occasion,  every  day,  to  move  about  in  the  pure  air  of  the 
country.  You  can  ride  on  horseback,  and  take  a  sufficient 
amount  of  pleasant  and  refreshing  exercise.  This  is  so  mixed 
up  v/ith  your  sedentary  labors,  as  to  serve  as  a  constant  prop 
to  your  constitution.  In  the  city,  it  would  be  otherwise.  You 
would  not  be  able  to  keep  a  horse.  The  same  amount  of  labor 
there  would  be  far  more  exhausting  than  in  your  present  situa- 
tion. But  you  could  not  get  along  wdth  the  same  amount  of 
labor  which  you  now  perform.  Your  mind  and  body  would  be 
obliged  to  be  much  more  constantly  and  painfully  on  the 
stretch  of  exertion ;  and,  after  spending  a  little  while  in  the  vi- 
tiated air  of  the  city,  yoii  would  have  less  elasticity,  and  less 
strength  to  exert  than  you  now  have.  You  can  have  no  con- 
ception, until  you  have  tried  it,  how  exhausting  ministerial 
labors  in  a  great  city  are — amidst  the  ten  thousand  distracting 
interruptions  which  occur,  and  which,  instead  of  relieving,  un- 
der the  pressure  of  toil,  tend  to  derange  and  shatter  the  nervous 
system.  There  is  no  point  concerning  which  I  am  more  confi- 
dent, than  that  no  young  man,  in  delicate  health,  ought  to  ven- 
ture into  a  lai^ge  city.     '^     * 

**  *  if  you  were  my  own  son,  I  should,  on  the  whole, 
rather  discourage  such  a  removal  at  present.  If  your  health 
should  be  pretty  good  four  or  five  years  hence, — after  you  shall 
have  prepared  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  more  ser- 
mons, and  could  afford  to  devote  the  first  year  or  two  to  exer- 
cise and  clerical  recreation, — then,  and  not  till  then,  do  I  think 
it  would  be  safe  for  you,  with  your  delicate  constitution,  to 
settle  in  a  city.' 


110  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  5. 

About  six  months  later,  Mr.  Sprague  had  a  unanimous 
call  from  the  Cedar  Street  Church  in  New  York,  one  of 
the  elders  of  which  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller,  becro-incf  him  to 
exert  his  influence  in  favor  of  an  acceptance  of  the  invita- 
tion.    Dr.  Miller  then  wrote, 

'Although  my  fears  concerning  your  health  in  the  city  re- 
main unchanged,  tliat,  as  matters  now  stand,  is  my  only  diffi- 
culty. You  and  those  friends  who  are  intimately  acquainted 
with  your  constitution  are  the  best  judges  of  this  matter.     *     * 

'  May  the  Lord  enlighten  and  guide  you,  my  dear  sir,  in 
reference  to  this  momentous  decision !  No  one  will  more  cor- 
dially rejoice  to  see  you  settled  in  New  Yorh  than  myself.' 

In  1825,  Dr.  Hodge  established  "  The  Biblical  Reper- 
tory," a  periodical  designed  to  assist  ministers  and  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry  in  the  criticism  and  exegesis  of  the 
Bible,  by,  chiefly,  the  republication  of  selections,  often 
translated  for  this  purpose,  from  the  writings  of  distin- 
guished foreign  scholars.  With  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
volume,  in  1829,  his  plan  was  modified  and  enlarged  ;  the 
work  was  made,  for  the  most  part,  original ;  the  whole 
range  of  theological  and  religious  subjects  was  brought 
within  its  scope ;  and  the  title  page  presented  it  as  ''  The 
Biblical  Repertory  and  Theological  Review.  Conducted 
by  an  Association  of  Gentlemen  in  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and 
Vicinity."  In  1837,  "Princeton"  was  substituted  for 
"Theological."  The  "Association"  embraced,  among 
others.  Dr.  Hodge's  colleagues  in  the  Seminary;  and,  from 
1830  to  1842  inclusive.  Dr.  Miller  contributed  some  twenty- 
five  articles,  which  can  now  be  distinctly  traced  to  him — 
in  all  about  four  hundred  and  forty-four  pages.  In  1829, 
the  Repertory,  in  its  new  form,  Avas  recommended  by  a 
printed  circular,  signed  by  clergymen  of  both  the  Old  and 
New  School  parties,^  who  soon  afterwards,  in  the  current 
of  ecclesiastical  afl"airs,  found  themselves  divided  into  two 
opposing  bands.  At  this  time,  evidently,  the  causes  of 
subsequent  separation  had  no  very  potential  influence  ;  but 
they  were  just  ready  to  reveal  themselves  in  active,  agita- 
ting operation. 

1  "  Ashbell  Green,  Samuel  Miller.  Archibald  Alexander,  John  H.  Rice, 
Ezra  Fisk,  Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  Francis  Herron,  Thomas  Cleland,  Samuel  Hanson 
Cox,  Thomas  H.  Skinner,"james  Iloge,  Henry  R.  Weed,  William  Nevins." 


1825.]  MISCELLANEOUS    TOPICS.  Ill 

Dr.  Miller,  in  November,  1825,  delivered  the  Introduc- 
tory Lecture  at  the  opening  of  the  Winter  Session,  an  out- 
line of  which  was  published.^  He  discussed  the  question, 
*'  Why  are  there,  at  j^fesent,  so  feiv  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
really  eminent  in  tlieir  'profession  V  "  Why  is  it,"  he  asks, 
"that  there  are,  at  this  time,  in  our  country,  so  few  minis- 
ters of  that  real,  commanding,  professional  eminence  which 
is  within  the  reach  of  multitudes  ;  nay,  which  is,  humanly 
speaking,  within  the  reach  of  every  man  of  good  sense, 
of  fervent  piety,  and  of  persevering  diligence  ? 
Why  is  it,  that  we  so  seldom  see  a  clergyman  who  is,  at 
once,  a  good  scholar  ;  an  able  theologian  ;  an  instructive, 
interesting,  and  impressive  preacher  ;  a  faithful,  laborious 
pastor  ;  and  a  meek,  humble,  fervently  pious,  polished,  an  I 
benevolent  christian  gentleman^''  He  took  for  granted, 
that  such  ministers  w^ere  more  rare,  then,  in  proportion  to 
the  whole  number,  than  they  had  been  seventy  or  eighty 
years  previously.  The  ''prevailing  mediocrity  of  minis- 
terial character,"  he  attributed  to  (1)  a  "  prevailing  medio- 
crity of  piety;"  (2)  a  ''prevailing  imperfection  in  the 
elementary  scholarship  of  those  entering  the  sacred  pro- 
fession;"  (3)  "the  want  of  mature  and  adequate  profes- 
sional study;"  (1)  "the  w^ant  of  opportunity  of  forming 
the  character  and  manners;"  (5)  the  fact  that  candidates 
did  "not  point  high  enough  in  their  aims  " — did  "not  set 
before  them  a  standard  of  professional  eminence  sufficiently 
elevated  ;"  (6)  the  fact  that  the  attention  of  so  many  was 
"  divided  between  their  ministry  and  secular  employments  ;" 
and  (7)  the  fact  that  ministerial  life  had  become  "  less  studi- 
ous antl  contemplative"  than  formerly.  He  exhorted  the 
students,  therefore,  (1)  to  cultivate  deep  piety;  (2)  to  re- 
tain and  extend  their  academical  acquirements ;  (3)  to 
study  theology  closely  for  at  least  three  years ;  (4)  to  cul- 
tivate carefully  the  temper  and  manners  of  christian  gen- 
tlemen ;  (5)  to  aim  high ;  (6)  to  improve  social  opportuni- 
ties ;  (7)  to  be  punctual  as  to  Seminary  duties  ;  (8)  to  make 
no  engagements  interfering  with  eifectual  study ;  (9)  to 
take  a  fourth  and  fifth  year  at  the   Seminary  if  possible  ; 

1  "  Outline  of  the  Introductory  Lecture  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  pres- 
ent Session.  By  Professor  Miller,"  1  Am.  Magazine,  11.  Princeton:  1826.— 
870.  Pp.  11 .  Published  also  in  successive  numbers  of  2  Western  Luminary,  Lei- 
ington,  Ky.,  1826. 


112  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CII.  26.  5. 

as  a  provision  for  which  he  suggested  the  creation  of  fel- 
lowships ;  (10)  to  take  care  of  their  health  ;  (11)  to  resolve 
to  do  all  in  their  power  to  elevate  and  adorn  the  ministe- 
rial character.  These  suggestions  are,  certainly,  as  im- 
portant now,  as  they  were  forty  years  ago. 

To  Dr.  Miller's  published  lecture  on  Creeds  and  Con- 
fessions, Mr.  Duncan  replied,  in  about  six  months,  in  a 
work  of  which  the  former  took  no  notice,  firmly  intending 
to  pass  it  by  in  silence,  until  "A  Gentleman  of  Baltimore," 
nearly  a  year  after  its  publication,  made  some  friendly  in- 
quiries of  him  in  regard  to  the  matter.  This  appeal  drew 
him  out  in  a  pamphlet  "Letter  to  a  Gentleman  of  Balti- 
more"^— not  an  answer,  however,  to  Mr.  Duncan's  book, 
but  a  statement  of  reasons  why  he  should  attempt  no  an- 
swer, with  remarks  upon  some  collateral  points.  This  brief 
publication  will  perhaps  be  esteemed,  upon  comparison  with 
Dr.  Miller's  other  writings,  as,  in  point  of  style  and  thought, 
among  the  most  vigorous  of  all.  A  critic  in  the  "American 
Magazine  of  Letters  and  Christianity"^ — probably  its  edi- 
tor, the  Bev.  Thomas  C.  Gibson — remarked, 

"We  could  speak,  in  addition,  with  great  pleasure,  of  the 
literary  merits  of  this  performance.  It  is,  in  that  point  of  view, 
even  apart  from  the  dignity  of  the  subject,  worthy  of  the  highest 
regard.  Besides  its  powerful  flow  of  argument,  cleared  of  all 
extraneous  matter,  and  bearing  down  directly,  and  rapidly,  and 
decisively  on  the  point  in  view,  it  is  characterized,  throughout, 
by  the  greatest  i3erspicuity,  and  much  elegance  of  style ;  and 
though  marked  by  frequent  pleasantry,  and  sometimes  by  a 
certain  archness  of  manner — each,  however,  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  whole — it  exhibits  a  spirit  in  every  respect  gentle,  for- 
bearing, and  generous.  As  a  model  of  controversial  writing, 
more  exact  and  faultless  than  any  we  remember  to  have  ever 
seen,  we  commend  it  especially  to  the  notice  of  our  clerical 
readers." 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  at 
once,  upon  its  formation  in  1789,  had  recognized  its  duty 
to  superintend  and  foster  Presbyterian  home  missions.     A 

^  *'A  Letter  to  a  Gentleman  of  Baltimore,  in  reference  to  the  Case  of  the  Rev 
Mr.  Duncan.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and 
Church  Government,  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  at  Princeton,  N.  J.  The 
wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  ptjrk.  then  peaceable. — James  iii.  17." — 
Dated  January  25,  1820.— 8vo.      Pn.  91. 

2  1  Vol.,  172. 


1826.]  MISCELLANEOUS    TOPICS.  113 

year  later,  the  fulfilment  of  this  fluty  was  attempted  hy  the 
appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Missions;  which,  thence- 
forward, was  one  of  the  stated  committees  of  the  judicatory. 
In  1816,  a  Board  of  Missions — the  first  hoard  of  the 
Church — was  established  ;  but  it  maintained,  for  a  long 
time,  only  a  precarious  and  languishing  existence.  At  the 
end  of  the  twelfth,  its  receipts  were  little  more  than  half 
what  they  had  been  for  the  first,  year.^  The  simple  reason 
of  this  was  a  growing  doctrinal  defection  in  the  Church, 
and  a  growing  disposition,  therefore,  to  favor  voluntary 
union  associations,  instead  of  ecclesiastical  boards,  even  for 
the  work  of  extending  the  Church  itself.  The  whole  influ- 
ence of  Congregationalism,  too,  was  thrown  into  the  scale 
of  opposition  to  separate  Presbyterian  effort. 

The  NeAv  York  Missionary  Society  has  already  been  no- 
ticed.^ In  1809,  a  number  of  young  men  of  different  de- 
nominations in  that  city  formed  the  "Assistant  New  York 
Missionary  Society,"  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  older  associa- 
tion, of  which,  however,  in  1816,  it  was  made  entirely  in- 
dependent. Directly  after  this  separation,  the  Young 
Men's  Society,  not  Avithout  long  discussion,  refused  to  em- 
ploy the  Rev.  Samuel  Hanson  Cox,^  because  of  his  Hop- 
kinsianism;  the  immediate  consequence  of  which  was  the 
formation  of  a  rival  body — the  "New  York  Evangelical 
Missionary  Society  of  Young  Men,"  and  its  unanimous  de- 
cision that  Mr.  Cox  should  be  its  first  missionary.  This 
controversy,  like  that  about  the  Education  Societies,  proved 
most  prejudicial  to  the  efi'orts  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
of  all  who  regarded  missions,  whether  home  or  foreign,  as 
the  appropriate  work  of  the  Church  in  its  organic  capacity. 

The  "  United  Domestic  Missionary  Society  of  New  York  " 
was  formed  upon  the  voluntary  plan,  "by  delegates  from 
ten  smaller  and  local  societies,"  in  1822,  and,  four  years 
afterward,  changed  in  name  and  Constitution,  became  the 
"American  Home  Missionary  Society."  Dr.  Spring  re- 
marks, 

"The  late  venerable  Dr.  Miller  and  Dr.  Alexander,  of 
Princeton  Seminary,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Corresponding 
Secretary,  dated  Princeton,  March  6,  1826,  say  :^  "NVe  rejoice 
to  hear  that  there  is  a  plan  in  contemplation  for  forming  a  Do- 

1  Baird's  Hist,  of  the  New  School,  3U.  '^  Vol.  I.  p.  104.  »  Since  D.D. 


114  CHANGES  AND  LABORS.       [CH.  20.  5. 

mestic  Missionary  Society  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  has 
heretofore  existed.  Our  prayer  is  that  the  God  of  all  grace 
may  rouse  the  spirit  of  the  nation  on  this  subject."^ 

It  is  not  probable  that  Dr.  Miller,  in  thus  bidding  God 
speed  to  the  society  in  question,  intended  more  than  he  had 
intended,  when  he  rejoiced  in  the  establishment  of  Andover 
Seminary,  yet  expressed  his  firm  conviction  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  must  soon  have  a  divinity  school  of 
its  own.  His  principle  had  been,  and  continued  to  be,  to 
give  a  wide  liberty  to  evangelical  effort  in  the  choice  of  its 
agencies  and  means,  and  to  welcome  others  as  co-laborers, 
although  their  charities  did  not  flow  in  the  same  channels 
with  his  own.  Nay,  he  could  co-operate  himself  with  dif- 
ferent organizations,  at  the  same  time,  for  accomplishing 
the  same  grand  result,  endeavoring  thus  to  harmonize  their 
efforts,  or  prevent  hostility  betw^een  them.  Not  many 
years,  however,  had  passed,  before,  as  we  shall  see,  he  be- 
came, and  not  groundlessly,  suspicious  of  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society,  as  employing  its  comparatively 
large  means,  to  advance  Congregationalism  and  "the  New 
Divinity,"  at  the  expense  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and 
its  standards — in  other  words,  to  give  triumph  to  the  New- 
School  party. 

By  the  General  Assembly  of  1826,  Dr.  Miller,  Dr.  John 
McDowell,  and  Dr.  M'Auley  w^ere  appointed  special  com- 
missioners to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  to 
attempt  the  removal  of  a  new  cause  of  alienation.  The 
Ninth  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia  had  called  Mr. 
John  Chambers,  a  licentiate,  to  be  their  pastor.  Upon  his 
application  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of  the  First  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia,  to  wdiich  the  church  belonged,  it  was 
found  that,  somehow,  he  had  obtained  licensure,  without 
subscribing  the  Confession  of  Faith  in  the  usual  form  ;  and 
when  asked,  whether  he  w^as  prepared  now  to  subscribe  it, 
he  answered,  "I  am  not."  The  Rev.  John  M.  Duncan,  of 
Baltimore,  had  been  his  pastor  and  tutor.  Unable  to  ob- 
tain ordination  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  without  adopt- 
ing the  Confession,  he  took  letters  of  introduction  from 
Mr.   Duncan,   Dr.   James  P.  Wilson  and  Dr.   Thomas  H. 

^  1  Spring's  Reminiscence?,  206.  For  further  information,  in  regard  to  the 
general  subject  glanced  at  in  these  latter  paragraphs,  se^  the  whole  chapter 
in  Dr.  Spring's  work,  and  Dr.  Baird's  Hist,  of  the  New  School,  Ch.  xx. 


1826.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  115 

Skinner,  by  their  advice,  to  Dr.  Taylor,  Dr.  Bacon  and 
others,  of  New  Haven,  who  had  him  ordained  by  the  Asso- 
ciation of  Congregational  Ministers  of  the  Western  District 
of  New  Haven  county.  He  returned  in  triumph  to  Phila- 
delphia, and  founded,  with  a  large  majority  of  the  Ninth 
Church,  "The  First  Independent  Church"  of  that  city. 
For  thirty-four  years,  the  General  Assembly  had  been  in 
correspondence  with  the  General  Association  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  it  had  certainly  been  understood,  that  ministers 
and  candidates  passing  from  one  to  the  other  could  do  so 
only  with  clean  papers.  The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
had  therefore  regarded  the  act  of  the  ordaining  Association 
as  irrecrular,  and  referred  it  for  consideration  to  the  As- 
sembly,  which  appointed  the  special  commissioners  before 
mentioned. 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  of  the  8th  of  June,  1826, 
Dr.  Miller  says,  in  regard  to  this  appointment, 

*  I  calculate  to  go,  with  the  leave  of  Providence,  in  a  few  days 
to  Connecticut,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  General  Asso- 
ciation as  a  commissioner  of  peace.  My  voice  is  still  for  peace. 
But  I  am  very  feeble,  and  not  very  fit  to  undertake  anything 
which  requires  five  minutes  extra  thinking,  or  the  extra  writing 
of  a  single  line.' 

The  committee  thus  appointed  met,  finally,  a  similar 
committee  of  the  Association,  in  New  York  City,  on  the  1st 
of  August.  The  latter  would  not  touch  the  case  of  Mr. 
Chambers :  they  had  been  directed  only  to  confer  upon 
terms  of  correspondence  and  intercourse  in  general.  The 
result  of  all  was,  that  two  new  rules  were  adopted,  one  of 
which  declared,  that  receiving  candidates,  licentiates  or 
ministers,  without  clean  papers,  should  "be  deemed  irregu- 
lar and  unfriendly."  An  implied,  instead  of  an  express, 
confession  of  previous  irregularity  and  unfriendliness,  was 
thus  made  and  for  peace'  sake  accepted. 

In  1826,  the  Rev.  John  Breckinridge  accepted  a  call  to 
be  Dr.  Glendy's  colleague  in  the  pastorate  of  the  Second 
Church  of  Baltimore.  Dr.  Miller  preached  the  installation 
sermon,  which,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Glendy  and  his  people, 
was  published.^    In  the  "National  Preacher"  for  December, 

^  "  Christian  Weapons  not  Carnal,  but  Spiritual :  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  City  of  Baltimoro,  October  13,  1826;  attte 
Installation  of  the  Ptcverend  John  Breckinridge,  as  Colleague  with  the  Revor- 


116  CHANGES    AND    LABORS.  [CH.  26.  5. 

of  the  same  year-,  two  other  sermons  of  his  made  their  ap- 
pearance.^ 

Of  the  Baltimore  discourse  the  Christian  Advocate  said, 

"This  is  a  long  sermon  but  a  very  good  one — sensible,  in- 
structive, convincing,  seasonable,  pious,  and  practical.  The 
preacher  has  seized  a  special  occasion  to  deliver  truths  generally 
interesting  and  highly  important  to  all  ministers  of  the  gospel; 
and  he  has  made  his  familiarity  with  ecclesiastical  history 
happily  auxiliary,  in  several  instances,  to  the  striking  illustra- 
tion and  enforcement  of  the  truths  he  inculcates."^ 

end  John  Glendy,  D.D.,  in  the  Pastoral  Charge  of  the  said  Church.  By  Samuel 
Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  GoYernment,  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Princeton  Press  :  1826." 
2  Corinthians,  x.  4. — 8vo.  Pp.  55. 

1  ''The  Evidence  and  Duty  of  being  on  the  Lord's  Side :  Two  Sermons,  etc. 
By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Princeton,  New  Jersey." — Exodus  xxxii.  26. — t>vo. 
pp.  16. 

25  Vol.,  (1827,)  35. 


CHAPTER     TWENTY-SEVENTH 

HABITS    AND     MANNERS. 

1826,  1827. 


1.  Rural  Pursuits. 

Brought  up  upon  a  farm,  as  he  had  been  in  Delaware, 
Dr.  Miller  had  readily  taken  to  rural  life  again  in  his 
suburban  summer  retreats  upon  Staten  Island,  at  Harlem, 
and  at  Bloomingdale.  So  too,  when,  in  Princeton,  he  be- 
came possessor  of  a  place  of  his  own,  he  entered  with  hearty 
relish,  for  health's  sake,  for  relaxation  and  for  comfort,  into 
those  country  pursuits  which  his  means  afforded,  and  to 
which  circumstances  invited.  He  had  formed  a  decided 
taste  for  husbandry,  which,  gratified  as  it  was  sparingly, 
without  interfering  with  his  professional  studies  or  respon- 
sibilities, ministered  greatly  to  the  enjoyment  and  general 
welfare  of  the  whole  family.  His  correspondence  was  by 
no  means  confined  to  matters  strictly  theological  and  eccle- 
siastical :  he  often  solicited  and  received  information,  from 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry  and  others,  respecting  agricul- 
ture and  kindred  subjects.  Here  is  a  long  epistle  from 
Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  giving  very  minute  and  curious  infor- 
mation about  the  salting  of  bacon  in  the  best  Virginia  style. 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Dr.  B.  Fiske,  of 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  dated  April  1,  1826,  introduces 
a  long  account  of  his  management  of  sia;  acres  of  land,  on 
which  he  had  been  living  for  thirty-five  years. 

*  The  size  of  my  paper,  I  hope,  will  allay  your  fears,  that  the 
questions  embraced  in  your  letter  would  be  an  intrusion,  and 
that  their  consideration  would  be  attended  with  reluctant  in- 
convenience. They  were  propounded  at  a  convenient  season, 
and  when  I  needed  something  to  counteract  the  dispiriting  in- 
fluence of  a  March  wind.  To  the  circumstance  that  you  have 
Vol.  II.— 11.  117 


118  HABITS    AND    MANNERS.  [CH.  27.  1. 

but  recently  turned  your  attention  to  llie  subject  of  agriculture, 
and  have  not  yet  become  warm  in  your  new  vocation,  is  it  to 
be  ascribed,  that  you  seem  not  aware,  that  those  who  have  a 
taste  for  this  employment,  and  the  means  to  indulge  it,  soon 
become  enamored  of  their  hobby,  and  are  ready  to  mount  when- 
ever their  favorite  is  brought  to  their  door.  I  now,  on  my  part, 
have  to  fear,  that  you  will  be  fatigued — I  hope  not  disgusted — 
with  the  jaunt  on  which  I  am  about  to  lead  you. 

*  Having  been  born  and  bred  the  son  of  a  country  "  clergy- 
man," the  late  Dr.  Fiske,  of  Brookfield  in  this  county,  I  early 
became  instructed  in  the  science,  and  soon  became  attached  to 
the  practical  concerns,  of  a  farm ;  and  gave  as  much  of  my  time 
to  the  business  as  could  be  spared,  consistently  with  acquiring 
the  education  to  which  I  was  destined.  My  father  from  ne- 
cessity was  a  farmer,  and  became  a  good  one.  Indeed,  fifty 
years  ago,  the  clergymen  of  the  town  were  almost  the  only 
scientific,  and  generally  the  best  practical,  farmers  in  it.  That 
their  hands  should  minister  to  their  rjecessmes  seemed  a  contingent 
of  their  settlement.  If  the  parish  furnished  a  parsonage,  their 
salaries  were,  in  consequence,  so  restricted,  that  they  were  com- 
pelled to  labor  for  the  support  of  their  growing  families.  If 
they  purchased  domicils,  they  were  generaliy  under  the  necessity 
of  paying  for  them  from  their  produce,  or  from  scanty  stipends. 
In  both  cases  their  farms  were  small,  and  their  skill  was  exerted 
to  render  them  productive.  My  father  was  one  of  the  above 
description.  He  was  not  inattentive  to  his  studies  and  parochial 
duties,  but  his  recreation  and  exercise  were  on  his  farm.  When 
he  settled  in  the  ministry,  he  became  indebted  to  his  parish  for 
sixty  acres  of  good  land.  He  soon  built  a  house,  chiefly  on 
credit ;  and  became  a  housekeeper  the  first  year.  By  the  prudent 
management  of  his  salary, — short  of  $400, — a  moderate  oidfit 
at  his  settlement,  and  the  income  of  his  farm,  he  discharged  his 
debts,  gave  three  sons  an  education  at  Cambridge  University, 
and  made  ample  provision  for  the  other  children.  Though 
strictly  economical  in  the  management  of  his  affairs,  he  lived 
up  to  the  style  of  the  day;  and  amply  sustained  the  clerical 
reputation  for  hospitality.  After  leaving  college,  I  became  a 
physician;  and  in  the  year  1790,  took  possession  of  the  little 
spot  I  now  cultivate.  From  a  state  of  exhaustion  I  put  it  into 
profitable  condition;  but  made  it  a  secondary  object  until  1815, 
when  I  retired  from  public  and  social  employment  on  account 
of  a  defect  in  my  hearing.  From  that  period,  I  have  given  my 
principal  attention  to  the  silent,  but  solacing  concerns  of  my 
early  and  favorite  employment,  grateful  for  a  resource  which 
can  convert  so  great  a  calamity  into  so  small  an  evil.     Such 


1826.]  RURAL    PURSUITS..  119 

are  the  vicissitude3  and  deprivations  to  which  we  are  exposed 
in  life,  that  I  would  inculcate  it  as  the  duty  of  every  parent, 
who  has  the  opportunity,  to  initiate  his  sons,  so  that  in  all  their 
gettings  they  should  get  understanding  in  husbandry.  I  am 
gratified  to  perceive,  that  efforts  are  in  train  to  make  this  ac- 
quirement one  of  the  rudiments  of  a  public  education.  I  speak 
feelingly,  Sir;  for,  without  this  employment,  I  should  now  lack 
thealiment  which  could  sustain  either  my  corporal  or  mental 
vigor;  and  with  it,  I  feel  but  little  solicitude  who  is  President 
or  Governor;  and  would  almost  compound  with  any  man  for 
either  office,  upon  condition  that  he  would  not  disturb  me  in 
my  retreat.  Having  accomplished  my  erratic  excursion,  I  am 
dismounted  at  the  place  of  starting.' 

AVhen  Dr.  Miller  built  his  dwelling  house,  he  secured,  for 
its  site,  a  lot  of  something  less  than  an  acre.  A  goodly 
portion  of  this  was  devoted  to  a  front  lawn  and  flower 
garden.  Here  shade  trees  of  various  kinds,  evergreens 
and  deciduous,  were  planted,  and,  growing  luxuriantl}'-,  at 
length  almost  shut  out  the  mansion  from  the  view  of  the 
street.  On  one  side  wa=?  a  good  apple  orchard  of  choice 
fruit,  and  behind  all,  besides  outbuildings  and  their  yards, 
an  ample  kitchen  garden.  Here  a  number  of  grape 
arbors  rose  to  view ;  peach,  apricot,  pear,  plum,  and  cherry 
trees,  in  excellent  variety,  yielded  rich  supplies  ;  straw- 
berries, raspberries,  gooseberries  and  currants  abounded  in 
their  season  ;  and  garden  esculents  of  almost  every  de- 
scription were  skilfully  and  successfully  cultivated.  Large' 
and  prolific  asparagus  beds  were  objects  of  special  atten- 
tion. For  the  most  part.  Dr.  Miller  attempted  nothing 
beyond  the  oversight  of  the  operations  of  tillage ;  but 
there  was  a  constant  exception  to  this,  during  the  last  days 
of  winter  and  the  spring  months,  in  his  personal  care  of 
a  row  of  excellent  hot  beds,  the  formation  of  which  he 
first  minutely  superintended,  and  which  he  afterwards 
planted,  watered  and  otherwise  managed  chiefly  with  his 
own  hands.  His  gardening  was  certainty  very  successful, 
so  far  as  its  immediate  results  were  concerned ;  and  many 
of  his  neighbors  profited  by  it ;  for  early  plants,  fruits  and 
vegetables  were  always  superabundant ;  and,  taking  into 
account  the  supply  of  the  family  table,  the  opportunity 
furnished  of  expressing  kind  feelings  toward  friends,  the 
gratification  of  taste,  the  benefit   to   health,  and   all   the 


120  HAUITS    AND    MANNERS.  [CH.  27.  1. 

advantages  of  home  employmentSj  pleasures,  and  means  of 
improvement  thus  afforded  for  his  children,  it  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  his  grounds  well  repaid  the  expense  of 
their  cultivation,  although  the  outlay  was  considerable,  and 
there  was  no  direct  pecuniary  return.  Some  of  the  most 
delightful  home  reminiscences  of  surviving  members  of  the 
family  are  connected  with  that  garden,  lawn  and  orchard ; 
the  scenes  and  occupations  of  which  were  constantly  form- 
ing habits  and  tastes,  imparting  knowledge  and  skill,  sug- 
gesting ideas  and  exciting  emotions,  which  have  added  ma- 
terially to  the  happiness  of  earth,  and,  at  least,  preserved 
from  many  temptations  and  irregular  longings,  which 
might  seriously  have  endangered  or  diminished  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven.  Those  hot-beds,  out  of  doors,  so  sedu- 
lously planted  and  tended,  the  nursery  of  the  vegetable 
grounds,  were  a  picture  of  home,  the  nursery  of  both 
church  and  state ;  and  gave  their  simple,  easy  lessons  and 
illustrations  of  truth  to  the  home  hard  by,  within  doors, 
which  imitated  and  rivaled  their  order,  and  received  double 
benefit,  corporeal  and  spiritual,  from  their  products. 

Subsequently,  Dr.  Miller  added  to  his  grounds  about 
fourteen  acres  of  farm  land,  immediately  adjoining,  and 
partly  inclosing,  the  original  purchase ;  and  united  farm- 
ing, in  a  small  way,  to  gardening.  He  had,  however,  little 
or  no  additional  time  to  devote  to  this  extension  of  terri- 
tory and  business  ;  and  the  garden,  now  considerably  en- 
larged, perhaps  suffered  somewhat,  and  the  farm  still  more, 
for  want  of  his  personal  attention.  But,  as  his  sons  grew 
up  around  him,  he  could  throw  part  of  the  burden  upon 
them ;  while  they  had  a  wider  range  at  home,  and  alto- 
gether, it  is  probable,  the  new  purchase  was  an  immediate 
family  advantage.  Mrs.  Miller,  indeed,  sometimes,  now  in 
a  laughing,  again  in  a  serious,  mood,  questioned  the  gains 
of  farming,  and,  finding  a  large  house  particularly  trouble- 
some, and  good  servants  hard  to  obtain,  often  declared  that 
the  dwelling  must  have  been  intended  for  a  tavern,  and 
would  doubtless  one  day  attain  its  manifest  destiny.  She 
bore,  however,  faithfully  her  own  full  share  of  the  burden, 
becoming  as  assiduous  in  her  moderate,  though  sometimes 
oppressive  dairy,  as  her  husband  was  in  his  garden ;  and, 
though  her  entrance,  properly  speaking,  upon  country  life 


1826.]  RURAL    PURSUITS.  121 

was  so  late,  she  acquired  no  little  skill  in  her  department. 
Doubtless  she  sacrificed  comfort  too  much  to  that  dictum 
of  careful,  anxious  housekeepers,  that  the  mistress's  eye 
and  hand  must  be  everywhere.  Whenever  health  permit- 
ted, even  to  old  age,  she  was,  generally,  the  first  of  the 
household  up  in  the  morning,  and  the  last,  at  night,  to 
visit  every  part  of  the  dwelling,  to  see  that  all  was  safe. 

One  great  advantage  that  the  children  reaped  from  the 
manner  of  their  home  life  was  that,  partly  of  choice,  partly 
as  a  matter  of  training,  and  partly  through  the  occasional 
emergencies  of  such  an  establishment,  they  learned  every 
appropriate  homely  art.  Mrs.  Miller  had,  indeed,  some 
peculiar  notions  in  regard  to  the  training  of  her  sons ;  and 
she  systematically  taught  them  all  to  knit  and  sew — accom- 
plishments for  which  they  have  not  been,  in  riper  years, 
entirely  ungrateful ;  however  their  boy- companions,  when 
the  carefully  kept  secret  of  home  employments  with  the 
needle  leaked  out,  may  have  twitted  them  with  being 
''girls." 

Probably  Dr.  Miller's  feeble  condition  and  repeated  ill- 
nesses in  New  Yorky  with  the  hints  that  his  brother 
Edward's  medical  experience  furnished,  had  impressed 
upon  him  the  necessity  of  constant  attention  to  health  ; 
and  had  convinced  him  of  the  truth  so  seldom  practically 
learned,  that  this,  like  everything  really  valuable,  is  to  be 
secured  by  diligent  toil  alone.  Valetudinarianism  thus 
imposing  a  special  duty,  country  scenes  and  his  own  tastes 
combined  to  make  that  duty  a  delight  ;  aind  systematic, 
frequent,  out-door  exercise  became  the  pleasurable  habit 
of  his  life.  His  hygienic  principle,  as  regarded  both  ful- 
filling professional  appointments  and  taking  exercise,  was 
to  wrap  up  well,  guarding  especially  his  feet,  and  chest, 
and  throat,  then  disregard  weather,  unless  quite  stormy. 

Soon  after  he  settled  in  Princeton, — as  early  at  least  as 
the  year  181G, — Dr.  Miller  added  a  horse  and  carriage  to 
his  establishment.  Early  and  carefully,  by  way  of  recrea- 
tion, his  sons  were  taught  to  drive,  and  both  sons  and 
daughters  to  ride.  The  carriage — altogether  an  unpretend- 
ing affair — was,  however,  very  commodious  in  shape  and 
size,  and  added  materially  to  the  means  of  family  recrea- 
tion and  enjoyment.     It  was   greatly   delighted  in  during 

11^ 


122  HABITS   AND    MANNERS.  [CH.  27.  1. 

its  earlier  days,  though,  in  a  venerable  old  age,  called, 
somewhat  irreverent!}^,  considering  its  years  and  service, 
*'the  scow."  Dr.  Miller  took  long,  and  almost  daily 
walks,  chiefly  for  exercise,  and  rides  or  drives  nearly  as 
frequent.  Besides  the  benefit  to  his  own  health  which  re- 
sulted from  this  habit,  it  was  made,  under  the  guidance  of 
wisdom  and  affection,  a  most  important  adjunct  to  family 
training  and  discipline,  and  most  efficiently  promotive  of 
family  welfare.  In  the  pleasure  of  his  walks  and  rides  as 
many  as  possible  of  the  household  shared.  Almost  daily, 
for  years  together,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  might  be  seen 
taking  their  noon  or  afternoon  walk,  in  this  direction  or 
that — commonly  aw^ay  from  the  village  rather  than  through 
it,  unless  better  walking,  or  an  errand,  required  the  latter 
direction.  And  generally  they  were  accompanied  by  a 
little  troop  of  rosy-faced,  and  in  summer,  bare-armed, 
children,  always  within  sight,  but  otherwise  allowed  con- 
siderable latitude  in  their  gambols.  Both  of  them  were 
attentive  and  delighted,  though  not  very  scientific,  obser- 
vers of  nature;  and  they  imparted  to  all  the  children  more 
or  less  of  a  taste  for  rural  scenery  and  pleasures. 

A  simple  variation  of  their  method  was  to  drive  out,  es- 
pecially of  a  mild  afternoon,  packing  with  them  into  the 
carriage  as  many  of  the  children  as  it  would  hold ;  and 
those  who  saw  it  leave  the  door,  with  its  load  of  old  and 
young  together,  and  who  did  not  know  that  the  latter, 
when  they  came  to  the  foot  of  a  hill,  relieved  the  horse  of 
their  part  of  his  burden  and  walked  up  the  ascent,  may 
have  considered  the  poor  animal  sometimes  too  heavily 
tasked.  But,  by-and-by,  another  horse  shared  his  labors, 
and  after  farming  began,  part  of  the  time,  a  third.  Of  a 
Saturday  afternoon,  the  carriage  was  often,  in  the  proper 
season,  called  into  requisition  for  a  fishing  excursion  to 
"Worth's  Mill,"  or  "Pretty  Brook,"  not  quite  two  miles 
distant.  There  Father  and  Mother  would  sit  or  wander 
about  in  the  shade  for  hours  together,  talking,  reading  or 
meditating,  but  ever  ready  to  make  a  suggestion,  or  give  a 
helping  hand  to  the  little  ones,  who  angled,  with  success 
according  to  their  years,  for  minnows.  Every  few  weeks, 
a  forenoon  drive  of  ten  miles  to  Trenton,  for  shopping,  af- 
forded a  highly  relished   change  of  scene  and  amusement 


1827.]  ^'CLERICAL   MANNERS   AND    HABITS."  123 

for  as  many  as  the  carriage  would  hold  comfortably,  for  so 
Ions:  a  drive. 

To  riding  on  horseback  Dr.  Miller  had  been  from  boy- 
hood inured.  During  his  early  years,  this  exercise  was 
doubtless  as  common  in  Delaware  as  through  the  South 
generally;  and  he  ever  retained  his  fondness  for  it,  reluc- 
tantly becoming  convinced  but  a  few  years  before  his 
death,  that  his  waning  strength  was  unequal  to  the  effort 
which  safety  in  the  saddle  required. 

2.     ^'Clerical  Manners  and  Habits." 

In  April,  1827,  Dr.  Miller  published  his  work  on  Cleri- 
cal Manners  and  Habits^ — perhaps  the  most  popular  and 
and  widely  circulated  production  of  his  pen,  if  we  except 
his  tracts  on  Presbyterianism  and  Baptism.  It  had  no 
doubt  occupied  his  thoughts,  more  or  less  definitely,  for  a 
number  of  years;  and  the  subject  which  it  unfolded  had, 
evidently,  been  with  him  a  life-long  and  favorite  study.  His 
observation  of  successive  classes  of  students  in  the  Seminary 
had,  certainly,  deepened  all  his  impressions  of  the  import- 
ance of  much  more  attention  to  this  subject,  on  the  part 
especially  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  than  they  usually 
gave,  or  considered  needful.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  that 
democratic  ideas,  democratic  institutions,  and  democratic 
usages  have  tended  to  lower,  in  this  country,  the  standard 
of  personal  refinement  and  good  manners,  and  to  discourage 
the  cultivation  of  elegant  and  polite  habits.  A  proper  re- 
action against  the  unnatural  restraints,  the  burdensome 
etiquette,  the  heartless  formalities,  the  puerile  conceits  and 
niceties,  the  hollow  pretences  and  fictions,  of  courts  and 
aristocratic  saloons,  has  gone,  however,  to  the  extreme 
of  depreciating  true  gentleness,  and  that  Christian  defer- 
ence to  the  feelings  of  others,  of  which  fashionable  polite 
ness  has  been  rightly  characterized  as  only  an  imita- 
tion, or  imperfect  copy.  Refined  manners  are  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  morals  and  religion,  and  to  exhibit  and  culti- 
vate  them  in  their  proper  connexion  and  relation  is  the 
best  means  of  eradicating  the  spurious  and  unwholesome 

1  "Letters  on  Clerical  Manners  and  Habits:  addressed  to  a  Student  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor 
of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in  the  said  Seminary." — 
12mo.  Pp.  395.  ' 


124  HABITS    AND    MANNERS.  [CH.  27.  2. 

offsets  of  worldliness  and  unbelief.  To  this  object  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's work  was  intended  to  contribute.  These  "Letters" 
had  passed  to  a  third  edition  in  1835,  and  have  since  been 
put  upon  the  catalogue  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publi- 
cation, for  permanent  issue. ^ 

To  the  subject  of  personal  habits  and  manners,  the 
author  had,  beyond  doubt,  paid  much  attention  both  theo- 
retically and  practically.  From  his  earliest  youth,  he 
appears  to  have  been  led  to  set  a  high  value  upon  refine- 
ment and  courtesy  in  social  intercourse.  What  particular 
instruction  he  had  received,  and  whom  he  had  taken  for  a 
model,  as  to  these  points,  it  is  impossible,  as  before  intima- 
ted, now  to  determine.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  when 
his  native  state  and  earliest  acquaintances  were  called  to 
mind,  he  often  spoke  of  the  best  society  of  Delaware  as 
distinguished,  in  his  boyhood,  for  taste,  polish,  and  social 
culture,  mentioning,  particularly,  by  name,  different  fami- 
lies and  individuals  pre-eminent  in  these  respects.  His 
father,  educated  in  Boston,  could  hardly  have  lacked,  in 
early  life,  patterns,  or  even  lessons,  of  politeness;  but 
nothing  is  known  of  his  manners,  excepting  that,  on  occa- 
sions of  ceremony,  his  presbyterial  associates  seem  gener- 
ally to  have  put  him  forward,  if  not  foremost.  Passages 
have  already  been  quoted,  in  which  the  mother  was  spoken 
of,  by  her  husband,  as  '  of  a  disposition  remarkably  oblig- 
ing to  all  who  came  in  her  way ;'  and,  by  her  son,  as 
*  courteous  and  benevolent  in  [such]  a  very  uncommon 
degree,  [that]  she  endeared  herself  to  all  who  knew  her.' 

A  few  quotations  from  the  writings  of  Dr.  Sprague  and 
others,  in  relation  to  Dr.  Miller's  own  manners,  may  not 
be  out  of  place,  if  thrown  together  here,  although  testi- 
monies from  other  sources,  to  the  same  effect,  may  appear, 
incidentally,  in  other  parts  of  the  volume. 

1  The  range  of  this  work  may  be  understood  from  a  brief  synopsis.  I.  In- 
troduction ;  Importance  of  the  subject — Prejudices — Value  and  attainment  of 
Good  Manners.  II.  General  Characteristics  of  Clerical  Manners  :  Dignity — 
Gentleness — Condescension — Aflfability — Reserve — Uniformity.  III.  Offen- 
sive Pei'sonal  Habits.  IV.  Conversation.  V.  Religious  Conversation.  VI. 
Visiting  :  Pastoral  Visits — Social  Visits,  VII.  Habits  in  the  Seminary  gen- 
erally. VIII.  Habits  in  the  Study.  IX.  Habits  in  the  Lecture  room.  X. 
Habits  in  the  Pulpit  and  in  the  House  of  God.  XT.  Conduct  in  Church  Judi- 
catories, XIL  Female  Society,  Marriage,  etc  XIII.  Dress— Style  of  Liv- 
ing— Pecuniary  Concerns.  XIV.  Miscellaneous  Councils  :  Punctuality — Early 
Hising — Health— Politic*— Clerical  Recreations — Concern  about  Popularity — 
etQ.  etc. 


1827.]  "CLERICAL    MANNERS    AND    HABITS."  12.5 

"  Dr.  Miller  *  *  had  much  more  than  common  advan- 
tages in  respect  to  personal  appearance.  Of  about  the  middle 
size,  he  was  perfectly  well  proportioned,  with  a  fine,  intelligent 
and  benignant  countenance,  which  would  not  be  likely  to  pass 
unnoticed  in  a  crowd.  His  manners  were  cultivated  and 
graceful  in  a  high  degree,  uniting  the  polish  of  Chesterfield 
Avith  the  dignity  and  sincerity  of  a  Christian  minister.  He 
was  remarkably  exact  in  his  attention  to  little  things ;  and, 
though  this  may  have  sometimes  given  him,  to  a  certain  extent, 
an  air  of  formality,  it  had  undoubtedly  much  to  do  in  giving  a 
finish  to  both  his  manners  and  his  character.  His  work  on 
"  Clerical  Manners "  could  never  have  been  written  by  one 
who  was  less  considerate  and  exact  than  himself;  and,  indeed, 
but  for  his  exceeding  modesty,  one  might  almost  suppose  that 
in  writing  it  he  was  taking  his  own  portrait.  He  was  never 
thrown  into  any  society  so  polished  but  that  he  was  entirely  at 
home  in  it ;  and  while  he  was  as  far  as  possible  from  being  en- 
slaved to  worldly  usages,  or  cultivating  a  habit  of  too  indis- 
criminate worldly  intercourse,  he  never  thought  it  beneath  him 
to  appear  on  all  occasions  as  the  accomplished  Christian  gen- 
tleman."^ 

«  ^  *  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  be  otherwise  than  bland 
and  courteous  even  towards  an  adversary.  Not  a  small  part 
of  his  writings  are,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  a  polemical 
character ;  but  they  are  generally  marked  by  great  caution  and 
dignity,  and  I  have  never  heard  a  more  hearty  tribute  paid  to 
him  as  an  author,  than  by  one  eminent  man  who  held  with  him 
a  somewhat  vigorous  controversy."^ 

"Dr.  Miller's  person,  though  not  above  the  middle  size,  was 
uncommonly  symmetrical  and  dignified.  His  countenance 
spoke  in  no  equivocal  language  of  the  benignity  and  generos- 
ity of  his  spirit.  His  manners  were  the  simple  reflection  of  the 
fine  qualities  of  his  intellect  and  heart.  He  might  pass  you  in 
the  street  as  a  stranger,  and  yet  you  could  not  fail  to  recognize 
in  him  the  polished  gentleman.  Perhaps  his  rigid  regard  to 
all  the  forms  of  polite  society,  so  far  as  they  were  justified  to 
his  conscience  and  sense  of  propriety,  gave  to  his  manners  an 
air  of  more  than  common  precision;  but  there  was  nothing 
that  was  designed  to  inspire  awe,  or  fitted  to  produce  embar- 
rassment. Always  self-possessed  and  perfectly  at  ease,  and  on 
all. suitable  occasions  cheerful  and  abounding  with  anecdote, 
he  was  welcome  to  every  circle  ;  while  yet  he  never  forgot,  or 
suflTered  others  to  forget,  the  decorum  that  was  due  to  his  char- 

^  3  Sprague's  Annals,  602,  3. 
2  3  Sprague's  Annals,  604. 


126  HABITS    A^^D    MAN>5ERS.  [CH.  27.  2. 

ter  and  office.  Persons  of  every  age  and  profession,  the  oldest 
and  tlie  youngest,  the  most  intelligent  and  the  least  informed, 
"svere  edified  by  his  wisdom,  entertained  by  his  humour,  and 
charmed  by  his  bland  and  attractive  address."^ 

"  It  is  impossible  to  remember  Dr.  Miller,  without  thinking 
of  him  as  a  Christian  gentleman.  Without  an  approach  to 
stiffness,  he  was  urbane  and  elegant  in  all  the  forms  of  the 
best  society,  with  which  indeed  he  had  always  mingled.  He 
was  cheerful  and  cordial  in  his  greetings,  lively  in  conversation, 
and  fond  of  social  intercourse.  It  was  to  this  that  the  found- 
ing and  continuance  of  a  clerical  association  was  due,  in  which 
he  and  his  ministerial  friends  met  at  one  another's  houses 
during  many  years.  He  was  the  charm  of  mixed  companies  ; 
being  rich  in  topics  of  discourse,  and  happy  beyond  most  men 
in  apposite  anecdote  and  historical  reminiscence.  Indeed  we 
have  never  known  any  one  who  could  give  such  magical  effect 
to  little  ebullitions  of  humour,  which  repeated  by  the  lips  of 
others  seemed  to  lose  all  their  aroma."^ 

"  Some  allusion  has  been  made  to  the  character  of  Dr.  Mil- 
ler in  its  social  aspect.  One  of  the  first  ideas  suggested  by  the 
mention  of  his  name,  in  any  company  where  he  was  personally 
known,  is  that  of  a  Christian  gentleman.  Accustomed  from 
his  childhood  to  the  best  society,  his  manners  were  marked  with 
a  dignity  and  polish  which  no  artificial  tutelage  could  have 
imparted.  Equally  free  from  the  foppery  which  makes  a  man 
contemptible,  and  the  stateliness  which  makes  a  man  ridicu- 
lous, "  there  was  a  uniformity,  an  urbanity,  and  a  vigilance  in 
his  dignity,  which  plainly  showed  that  it  was  not  the  result  of 
temporary  effort,  but  the  spontaneous  product  of  a  polished, 
benevolent,  and  elevated  mind."''"  He  saw  no  reason  why 
piety  should  be  divorced  from  politeness,  nor  why  an  ambassa- 
dor for  Christ  should  not  be  a  gentleman.  So  far  from  it,  he 
was  persuaded  that  ministers  of  the  gospel  were  imperatively 
bound  to  pay  due  attention  to  matters  of  etiquette  and  personal 
address,  since  the  neglect  of  this  must  unavoidably  abridge 
their  usefulness.  He  had  not  overlooked  that  concise  precept, 
which  too  many  of  all  classes  deem  unworthy  of  their  notice, 
"  Be  courteous."  Recognizing  its  apostolical  authority,  he  ex- 
emplified it  with  a  felicity  which  few  men  of  any  profession 
have  attained  in  an  equal  degree. 

"It  was  this  in  part  which  made  him  so  delightful  a  com- 
panion.    Rarely  indeed  does   an  individual  carry  with  him, 

^  Dr.  Sprague's  Commemorative  Discourse,  12,  13. 
2  Life  of  Dr.  A.  Alexander,  577,  8. 
"  *  Miller's  Life  of  Dr.  Rodgers." 


1827.]  ^'  CLERICAL    MANXEKS    AND    HABITS."  127 

into  the  social  circle  and  the  more  private  intercourses  of 
friendship,  such  ample  and  varied  resources.  Manners  of  the 
utmost  dignity  and  blandness  were,  in  his  case,  associated  with 
an  exuberant  fund  of  information  always  at  command,  an 
affluent  vocabulary,  a  refined  taste,  a  genial  humour,  an  unfail- 
ing cheerfulness,  and  a  goodness  of  heart  which  revealed  itself 
in  a  thousand  nameless  and  undefinable  ways  in  the  whole 
texture  of  his  conversation.  Without  the  least  tinge  of 
pedantry,  he  instructed  while  he  pleased  his  visitors ;  and 
augmented  their  store  of  valuable  knowledge,  without  any 
ostentatious  parade  of  his  own.  If  his  presence  imposed  a 
restraint  upon  vulgarity  and  vice,  it  did  not  check  the  flow  of 
innocent  mirth.  His  vivacity,  however,  never  degenerated 
into  levity,  nor  his  wit  into  coarseness.  Nor  did  he  ever  allow 
himself  to  forget  his  high  character  as  a  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ.  He  possessed  the  happy  art  of  making  religion  appear 
lovely  even  to  those  who  had  never  learned  to  love  it.  The 
fragrance  of  a  true  piety  was  about  him  in  every  scene  of 
social  enjoyment ;  and  many  a  family  has  felt,  on  his  leaving 
them,  as  the  Shunamite  did  about  Elisha,  that  they  would  like 
to  build  a  "little  chamber"  for  him  on  the  wall,  and  secure 
him  for  a  frequent  guest."^ 

"  Through  his  whole  career,  both  of  youth  and  old  age,  he 
w'as  a  model  of  ministerial  propriety.  In  his  daily  walk  and 
conversation,  sobriety,  gravity,  urbanity,  gentility,  courtesy, 
politeness  and  considerate  good-will  to  all,  found  their  harmo- 
nious and  beautiful  living  illustration.  No  man  possessed,  in 
happier  combination,  the  fortiter  in  re  et  suaviter  in  modo. 
Of  medium  stature  and  well  proportioned,  with  a  fine  intelli- 
gent, benignant  face,  that  at  once  won  the  regard  of  a  stranger, 
unusually  prepossessing  in  his  personal  appearance  even  to  old 
age,  always  neat  and  elegant  in  his  attire,  proverbially  syste- 
matic and  methodical  in  all  his  habits  and  pursuits,  in  manners 
the  perfect  embodiment  of  a  Christian  gentleman — the  very 
Chesterfield  of  the  church — he  was  yet  a  man  of  the  highest 
type  of  piety — humble,  prayerful,  zealous,  self-denying,  and 
intensely  devoted  to  his  Master's  cause.''^ 

A  late  editorial  notice,  in  a  Baptist  newspaper,^  of  Mr. 
Leonard  W.  Jerome's  recent  gift  to  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  of  five  thousand  dollars,  as  the  foundation  of  an 
annual  prize  for  the  "first  gentleman"  in  the  graduating 
class,  contains  the  following  paragraph : — 

1  Dr.  Boardman's  Tribute,  etc.,  16,  17,  18. 

-  Dr.  Halsev'a  Great  Preachers   and  Pastors.     XorC -Wettern  Prethyterian. 
August  22,  1868.     P.  1. 

3   Watchman  and  Reflector — Boston,  1867. 


128  HABITS   A^"D    MANNERS.  [CH.  27.  2. 

"Mr.  Jerome  says,  that  *a  due  regard  for  the  feelings  of 
others^  is  the  foundation  of  a  gentleman.  We  would  add  an- 
other stone  to  the  foundation  by  quoting  the  old  definition  of 
politeness — *  true  kindness,  kindly  expressed.'  And,  as  we  write, 
there  rises  before  us  one,  whom  we  regret  that  the  students  of 
Princeton  cannot  know  as  their  living  example;  who  in  char- 
acter and  manner  always  showed  that  he  not  only  regarded  the 
feelings  of  others,  but  felt  for  them  a  kindness  which  he  kindly 
and  invariably  expressed.  We  refer  to  the  late  Kev.  Dr.  Miller. 
Some  called  him  the  Chesterfield  of  the  American  pulpit.  He 
was  more;  for  in  spirit,  in  life,  in  tone,  in  manner,  he  was  the 
highest  style  of  a  man,  a  Christian  gentleman.  They  may  find, 
however,  in  his  '  Hints  on  the  Formation  of  Clerical  manners,' 
many  suggestions  which  will  enable  them  to  compete  for  the 
prize  to  be  given  to  '  the  first  gentleman  of  his  class.' " 

Professor  Stuart  of  Andover,  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller  as 
follows : — 

'Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  Andover,  6  June,  1827. 

'  I  have  obtained  the  loan  of  your  recent  publication, 
for  two  or  three  days,  and  devoured  the  whole,  almost  at  a  meal. 
I  must  say,  that  I  have  never  read  anything  of  this  nature, 
which  gave  me  equal  pleasure  and  satisfaction.  It  does  honor 
to  your  head,  and  heart,  and  style  and  manners.  It  is  not 
Chesterfield ;  but  something  at  which  Chesterfield  was  partly 
aiming,  but  which  no  one  except  a  Christian  could  attain. 
"Omne  tulit  punctum,"  I  must  say  of  your  book;  and  I  may 
add,  "  qui  miscuit  utile  dulci."  I  do  insist  upon  it,  that  every 
clergyman  in  our  country  shall  have  a  copy ;  and  we  have 
taken  measures,  here,  to  have  a  copy  put  into  the  hands  of 
every  student  in  our  Seminary.  The  work  will  live,  when  you 
and  I  are  dead ;  and  speak  to  the  honor  of  its  author,  and  to 
the  good  of  his  successors  in  the  sacred  ofiftce. 

'  The  style  is  of  that  pure,  chaste,  unambitious  nature,  which 
does  not  woo  the  reader  "with  painted  cheeks  and  flaming 
ribands."  It  is  not  unworthy  of  the  pen  of  Cowper.  I  have 
lighted  upon  only  some  five  or  six  words  which  I  think  should 
be  excluded.  Item  belongs  only  to  books  of  account;  and 
some  others  I  have  marked.  But  they  are  scarcely  worth 
naming. 

*  Above  all,  the  spirit  of  the  book,  through  and  through,  is 
Christian — altogether  so.  It  is  impossible  that  it  should  not 
do  good. 

'  How  you  could  contrive  to  handle  the  matters  in  your  third 
letter,  so  as  never  once  to  descend  from  entire  gravity  and  de- 
corum, I  scarcely  know.     Again  I  say,  "Omne  tulit  punctum." 


1827.]  *' CLERICAL    MANNERS    AND    HABITS."  129 

'The  particular  object  of  this  letter  is,  to  inquire,  -whether 
you  would  have  any  objection  to  our  making  a  tract  here  of 
your  third  letter,  printed  in  an  attractive  manner,  with  a  hand- 
some cover,  and  distributing  it  in  every  college  and  academy  in 
Kew  England.  Some  slight  alterations,  for  such  a  general 
purpose,  may  perhaps  be  requisite.  Will  you  make  them  (in 
case  you  accede  to  the  proposition)  ;  or  shall  they  be  entrusted 
to  us  ?  And  are  there  not  some  more  particulars,  which  (for 
such  a  tract)  you  might  add  to  advantage? 

*  Be  so  kind  as  to  let  me  know  your  feelings  in  respect  to 
these  questions,  and  believe  me  to  be 

'  Yours  with  much  resnect  and  affection, 

'  Moses  Stuart. 

'  P.  S.  On  further  reflection,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion,  that,  if 
any  alterations  or  additions  aremade,  you  should  yourself  make 
them.  M.  S.' 

Mr.  Wisner  wrote, 

'  I  was  exceedingly  gratified  with  hearing  you  were  about  to 
publish  such  a  book,  and  I  entertained  high  expectations  respect- 
ing it,  which  were  not  at  all  disappointed  on  the  perusal.  I  have 
heard  the  professors  at  Andover,  and  several  other  clergymen 
in  our  quarter,  who  had  read  the  book,  express  their  opinions 
of  it ;  all,  with  one  exception,  in  terms  of  high  commendation. 
The  exception  was  one  of  our  genteel,  tippy  Unitarian  minis- 
ters of  Boston,  who  thought  it  was  too  minute,  and  calculated 
to  make  the  people  think,  that  ministers  in  general  must  be  a 
set  of  boors.  But  he  knows  nothing  about  ministers,  except  as 
polished,  literary,  fashionable,  gentlemen.' 

Dr.  Greville  Ewing,  of  Glasgow,  in  a  letter  of  the  1st  of 
December,  1828,  said, 

'  Your  Letters  on  Clerical  Manners  and  Habits,  of  which  I 
had  read  a  review,  I  now  see  to  be  a  work  of  very  great  import- 
ance. It  quite  engrosses  my  attention.  It  supplies  what  was 
truly  a  desideratum  in  theological  education.  I  hope  to  derive 
much  assistance  from  it  in  superintending  a  small  seminary, 
with  which  Dr.  Wardlaw  and  I  are  connected.' 

In  the  North  American  Review  appeared  a  critique  on 
this  work,  which  Princeton  tradition  ascribes  to  the  late 
Dr.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander,  who,  when  it  was  written, 
had  not  yet  completed  his  twentieth  year.  The  following 
extract  is  a  specimen  of  the  more  laudatory  portions. 

"  Dr.  Miller  has  a  happy  talent  for  the  composition  of  a  book. 
His  method,  though  running  out  too  much  into  detail,  is  very 
Vol.  XL— 12. 


130  HABITS    AND    MANNERS.  [CH.  27.  2. 

perspicuous.  His  style  is  marked  by  an  elegant  simplicity, 
and  is  always  intelligible.  Generally  flowing  with  the  easy 
sweetness  of  Doddridge,  Newton,  and  that  class  of  writers  on 
experimental  religion,  it  occasionally  rises  to  the  more  artifi- 
cial, condensed,  and  elevated  strain  of  Hannah  More.  His 
English  is  of  the  purest  kind,  and  his  selecter  expressions  un- 
commonly felicitous.  Even  in  his  more  personal  controversies, 
there  is  little  that  is  rough,  discourteous,  Warburtonian.  All 
is  as  smooth  as  oil ;  though,  as  Burke  once  described  the  re- 
proof of  a  certain  righteous  man,  it  is  often  the  oil  of  vitriol. 
No  man  surpasses  him  in  the  art  of  saying  severe  things  in  a 
soft  and  tender  way,  and  with  a  kind  of  helpless,  unconscious 
simplicity.  The  affectionate  pressure  of  his  hand  becomes  un- 
awares a  rigorous  grasp.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature  is 
deep  ;  not  arising  merely  from  the  varied  trials  and  conflicts  of 
experience,  but  also  from  strong  natural  sagacity,  and  the 
habitual  study  of  his  own  heart.  Admirable  are  his  precepts 
on  managing  and  regulating  one's  own  prejudices,  v^eaknesses, 
and  virtues  ;  delicate  and  skilful  his  tact  in  teaching  us  how  to 
deal  with  those  of  others.  Some  portions  of  the  present  volume 
breathe  a  lofty  and  refreshing  morality,  however  the  fastidious 
may  be  displeased  with  several  apparently  coarse  and  trifling 
topics.  We  would  recommend  its  perusal  to  readers  of  every 
class,  as  well  as  to  the  divine,  or  theological  student."^ 

Some  critics  charged  the  work  with  being  too  minute  in 
its  details,  especially  as  to  oiFences  against  propriety  too 
gross  and  palpo.ble  to  need  mention ;  but  as  one  of  his  re- 
viewers remvarks, 

"  General  statements  usually  make  but  a  slight  and  evanes- 
cent impression  on  any,  and  they  make  the  least  of  all  on  the 
young.  Young  persons  must  be  told  of  individual  things,  and 
have  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept,  if  we  would  hope 
to  do  them  good."  He  adds,  "  We  have  ourselves  felt  deeply 
the  conviction,  as  we  were  reading  the  volume,  that  the  author, 
while  writing  it,  was  swallowed  up,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  by 
a  desire  to  do  good. — Aiming  at  this,  he  disregarded  every  con- 
sideration that  seemed  to  interfere  with  his  main  object.  At  a 
book  thus  written,  and  ably  written,  the  critic  may  carp,  and 
the  witling  may  sneer,  but  the  wise  and  the  good  will  commend, 
and  many  who  receive  benefit  will  bless,  the  writer." 

The  same  reviewer  concludes  thus  : — 

"Since  its  publication,  a  very  competent  critic  has  remarked, 

1  Vol.  xxviii.  (April,  1820),  506. 


1827.]  "CLERICAL    MANNERS    AND    HABITS."  131 

that  not  only  clergymen,  but  all  men  of  liberal  pursuits,  may 
profit  much  by  a  careful  perusal  of  these  letters.  But  we  hesi- 
tate not  to  say,  that  every  theological  student  or  young  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel  in  our  country,  who  shall  voluntarily  neglect 
to  read  them,  will  not  have  availed  himself  of  one  of  the  best 
aids  that  he  might  have  used,  for  knowing  his  duty,  and  for  in- 
citing^  him  to  its  faithful  discharo;e."^ 

16  Christian  Advocate,  (1828,)  127,  etc. 


CHAPTER     TWENTY-EIGHTH. 

QUIET     YEARS.      ' 

1827-1831. 


li     State  of  the  CnuRcn. — The  College. 

Sores  were  festering,  and  fever  was  rising  in  the  Pres- 
byterian body ;  but  Dr.  Miller  could  not  believe  that  the 
alarm  which  some  felt  was  well  founded  ;  he  did  not  regard 
the  order  or  purity  of  the  Church  as  endangered  ;  and, 
hence,  while  ready  to  co-operate  in  every  measure  designed 
to  promote  simply  and  directly  what  he  considered  Ortho- 
doxy, and  strict  Presbyterianism,  he  opposed,  steadily,  as 
yet,  all  interference  with  the  opinions  or  practices  of  those 
who  were  currently  charged  with  New  England  errors. 
There  were  flying  distempers,  but  no  settled,  much  less  any 
dangerous,  disease  in  the  system.  He  had  been  familiar 
with  Hopkinsianism  and  Voluntary  Societies  all  his  minis- 
terial life  :  they  had  not  yet  impaired  seriously  the  sound- 
ness or  vigour  of  his  beloved  church  ;  and  of  their  ever  doing 
so  he  doubted,  well  nigh,  the  possibility.  Whatever  lack 
of  discernment  it  may  argue,  in  the  opinion  of  some  who 
now  see  that  he  was  mistaken,  such,  certainly,  was  his  con- 
clusion at  this  time  ;  and  troubled  thoughts  about  the  future 
did  not  disturb  his  peace.  The  exacting,  weary  toils  of 
his  early  professorship  were  over;  he  had  found  time  for 
again  voluntarily  laboring  as  an  author;  and  perhaps  we 
may  call  a  few  years,  just  now,  "quiet  years,"  as  truly  as 
we  may  any  portion  of  his  life.  At  fifty-eight,  he  was 
beginning  to  talk  of  old  age,  but  as  yet  really  not  so  much 
to  feel,  as  to  anticipate,  its  approach. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1827,  a  committee,  of  which  Dr. 
Miller  was  chairman,  was  appointed  to  examine  into  the 
132 


1827.]  THE  COLLEGE. 

state  of  the  college  of  Xew  Jersey.  On  the  27th  of  Se^ 
tember  following,  a  report  of  considerable  length,  from  the 
pen  of  the  chairman,  was  presented.  The  average  number 
of  students  was  only  about  eighty ;  and  the  expenses  of  the 
institution  exceeded  by  several  hundred  dollars,  annually, 
its  receipts.  Application  had  often  been  made,  without 
eifect,  to  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey  for  aid  ;  and  appeals 
to  private  liberality  had  been,  as  yet,  little  more  successful. 
Some  of  the  trustees  entertained  an  idea  that  the  profes- 
sors' salaries  might  be  curtailed.  To  venture  on,  without 
shortening  sail,  they  feared  might  prove  disastrous.  The 
following  extracts  from  Dr.  Miller's  report  exhibit  the 
principles,  which,  happily,  yet  not  without  a  short  experi- 
mental abandonment  of  them,  prevailed  in  the  management 
of  the  College. 

'In  regard  to  any  eligible  plan  for  lessening  the  expenses  of 
the  college,  your  committee  feel  equally  at  a  loss.  However 
difficult  it  may  be  to  continue  to  pay  the  present  salaries  of  our 
officers,  there  seems  reason  to  fear,  that,  if  they  should  be  re- 
duced to  any  such  extent  as  would  be  worth  considering,  the 
risk  of  endangering  the  respectability  of  the  institution,  and  of 
failing  to  command,  or  to  retain,  such  an  array  of  talent  in  the 
faculty,  as  is  absolutely  essential  to  its  prosperity,  would  more 
than  counterbalance  the  value  of  the  proposed  saving.  If  the 
college  is  to  be  supported  at  all,  it  must  be,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  committee,  not  by  reducing  the  provision  for  the  comfort  of 
its  officers,  which  would  only  diminish  the  probability  of  the 
places  being  suitably  filled,  but  by  using  all  the  means  in  our 
power  to  render  the  course  of  instruction  and  the  order  of  the 
institution  such  as  to  command  a  high  degree  of  public  confi- 
dence, and  thus  attract  a  larger  number  of  pupils.' 

The  committee  after  recommending  the  constant  presence 
of  one  or  more  of  the  tutors  in  the  college  edifice,  particu- 
larly upon  the  Sabbath,  continue, 

'As  connected  with  this  subject  your  committee  cannot  but 
call  the  attention  of  the  board  to  an  ancient  usage  of  the  college, 
to  provide  convenient  and  comfortable  rooms  in  the  college 
edifice,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  professors,  for  the  purpose 
of  study,  so  that  they  may  be  there  during  the  day  as  steadily 
as  circumstances  will  permit.  Experience  does  but  too  well 
evince,  that  the  presence  of  the  tutors  only  is  not  sufficient  to 
secure  that  degree  of  order  essential  to  the  proper  regulation  of 
the  house,  and  to  the  maintenance  of  the  necessary  discipline 

12* 


134  QUIET   YEARS.  [CH.  28.  1. 

of  the  institution.  To  this  may  be  added  the  practice  of  regular 
visitation  by  the  professors  in  the  rooms  of  the  students,  which 
duty  ought,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  to  be  distributed 
among  them  by  the  faculty,  so  that  each  should  have  his  proper 
share  of  the  labour. 

'  Your  committee  are  also  persuaded,  that,  as  the  students  are 
very  properly  required  to  attend  morning  and  evening  prayers 
in  the  college  chapel,  it  is  not  only  proper  but  important,  that 
all  the  members  of  the  faculty  who  lodge  in  the  public  edifice 
should  regularly  attend  morning  prayers  with  the  students; 
and  that  the  whole  faculty,  as  far  as  practicable,  attend  in  the 
evening.  Few  things  are  more  adapted  to  make  an  unfavorable 
impression  on  the  minds  of  the  students,  than  any  apparent 
want  of  punctuality  in  attending  to  this  duty  on  the  part  of  their 
teachers. 

'  Your  committee  have  reason  to  believe,  that  it  would  con- 
tribute to  the  maintenance  of  good  order  in  the  refectory,  if 
besides  both  the  tutors'  being  always  present,  the  President  and 
professors  should,  in  turn,  as  often  as  circumstances  will  admit, 
one  at  a  time,  also  give  their  attendance  at  meals.' 

This  report  was  adopted,  and  another  committee,  of 
which  also  Dr.  Miller  was  chairman,  was  appointed,  ^  to 
take  into  consideration  the  whole  state  and  arrangements 
of  the  College,  and  report  thereon.'  They  presented,  on 
the  9th  of  the  following  April,  a  second  report,  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  Miller;  which,  however,  under  the  influence  of 
a  continued  and  alarming  diminution  of  the  number  of  stu- 
dents, and  an  increased  pecuniary  deficit,  recommended,  as 
unavoidable,  a  temporary  reduction  of  salaries,  —  the 
President's  to  $1600,  and  each  professor's  to  $1000,  per 
annum, — commencing  six  months  from  that  time.  But,  at 
the  close  of  the  year,  two  professors  resigned  their  chairs  ; 
and  the  experiment  proved  so  injurious,  that  in  September, 
1830,  the  salaries  were  augmented ;  soon  after  which,  the 
faculty  was  strengthened  by  additions ;  temporary  loans 
of  money  were  obtained;  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  friends 
of  the  institution ;  aid  was  promised  to  indigent  students; 
somehow^  crowding  on  sail  ''raised  the  wind;  "  and,  with- 
in a  few  years,  an  additional  college  edifice,  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  students,  was  requisite,  and  its  erection  was  suc- 
cessfully undertaken.  "There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet 
increaseth;  and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is 
meet,  but  it  tendeth  to  poverty."^ 

^  Proverbs  11, 


1827.]  correspondence.  135 

2.  Correspondence. 

In  regard  to  Mr.  Sprague's  proposed  volume  of  discourses 
to  young  people,  Dr.  Miller  wrote,  on  the  30th  of  August, 

182:7. 

'Another  idea  has  also  frequently  occurred  with  force  to  my 
mind,  when  questions  like  the  present  were  under  discussion.  * 
*  Even  supposing  that  there  were  a  much  less  real  call  for 
such  a  work  than  there  is,  still  a  new  one  might  be  much  more 
extensively  circulated,  in  a  particular  neighborhood,  where  the 
author  is  known  and  beloved,  than  any  old  one  could  possibly 
be.  *  * 

'  I.  Be  not  in  haste  to  put  the  work  to  press.  Prepare  it  at 
your  leisure,  digest  it  well,  let  at  least  two  years  elapse,  from 
this  time,  before  you  begin  to  print. 

*  II.  Make  as  complete  a  collection  of  all  printed  essays,  dis- 
courses, etc.,  for  young  people,  as  you  can  possibly  procure. 
Every  one  of  them  will  serve  to  contribute  something  to  the 
enlargement  of  your  plan,  and  to  render  your  discourses  more 
rich,  dense,  pungent,  and  adapted  to  your  great  purpose. 

'  III.  Communicate  your  plan,  and  some,  or,  if  convenient,  all 
of  your  discourses  in  detail,  to  the  friendly  eyes  of  afeiv  of  your 
brethren  in  the  ministry  in  your  neighborhood.  I  say  a  few. 
Do  not  make  confidants  of  many  in  this  business,  or  their  dif- 
ferent and  conflicting  opinions  will  perplex  rather  than  aid 

you.' 

On  another  subject  Dr.  Miller  added, 

*  I  think  with  you,  that  it  is  truly  desirable  to  have  some  of 
our  most  respectable  candidates  settling  in  iS^ew  England,  for 
the  sake  of  promoting  union  and  fraternal  affection  among  the 
evangelical  ministers  of  the  United  States.  I  hope  such  settle- 
ments will  frequently  occur  in  future,  and  that  this  happy  fruit 
of  them  will  be  abundant  and  manifest.' 

From  New  York  city,  where  he  was  attendinf]^  the  an- 
nual  meeting  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  Mr.  Wisner,  on  the  13th  of  October, 
1827, 

'  May  the  Lord  bless  you  and  yours!  "We  live  in  a  wonder- 
ful day ;  a  day  which  calls  for  much  zeal,  labour  and  fidelity 
on  the  part  of  all  God's  people,  and  especially  his  ministers. 
Let  us  watch  and  pray  that  we  may  be  found  faithful,  active 
and  indefatigable  to  our  latest  breath.     What  a  precious  Mas- 


136  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  2. 

ter  do  we  serve  !     What  a  blessed  work  is  that  in  which  we  are 
engaged ! ' 

Dr.  Miller  delivered  the  introductory  lecture,  at  the 
opening  of  the  Seminary  term  in  November  of  this  year, 
choosing,  as  his  subject,  'The  Importance  of  the  Gospel 
Ministry.'  It  was  afterwards  published^  by  request  of 
"The  Society  for  Inquiry  on  Missions,"  composed  of  the 
students. 

The  Rev.  James  W.  Moore,  w^ho  had  recently  left  the 
Seminary,  and  was  settled  in  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  hav- 
ing written  to  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller,  requesting 
advice,  the  latter  replied  for  both,  on  the  12th  of  January, 
1828,  Dr.  Alexander  adding  a  brief  endorsement  of  his  col- 
league's views.     This  reply  w^as  in  part  as  follows: — 

*  I  desire,  my  dear  young  Brother,  to  unite  with  you  in  prais- 
ing the  Lord,  that  he  has  been  pleased  to  smile  upon  you,  and 
give  you  seals  to  your  ministry.  Truly  you  ought  to  lie  in  the 
dust  of  humility,  while  you  praise  him,  that,  in  his  sovereign 
and  condescending  wisdom,  he  has  made  the  labours  of  a  poor 
sinful  man,  effectual  to  the  saving  benefit  of  some  of  his  fellow 
men.  Verily,  the  treasure  is  in  earthen  vessels,  that  the  ex- 
cellency of  the  power  may  be  seen  by  every  one  to  be  of  God, 
and  not  of  us.  Happy  will  it  be  for  you,  my  young  Friend,  if 
vou  are  enabled  to  see  this  truth  in  a  strono;  and  clear  li2:ht 
habitually,  and  to  cherish  those  practical  sentiments  which 
ought  ever  to  flow  from  it.  A  minister  of  the  gospel  is  never 
so  likely  to  be  blessed  and  honored  of  God,  as  when  he  lives 
under  the  deepest  impression  of  his  utter  inability  to  render  his 
own  ministrations  effectual  in  a  single  instance ;  and  unceasing- 
ly and  importunately  looks  to  the  God  of  all  grace  to  crown 
them  with  his  blessing.  "^  * 

'  With  regard  to  the  young  lawyer,  concerning  whom  you 
cherish  the  hope  that  he  is  a  sincere  convert  to  the  love  and 
obedience  of  the  truth,  *  *  it  will  readily  occur  to  you,  that 
we  know  too  little  of  his  character,  attainments  and  circum- 
stances, to  give  advice  with  any  real  intelligence.  One  ques- 
tion is.  Has  he  been  long  enough  hopefully  a  Christian,  to  j)ut 
to  a  suitable  test  the  reality,  fixedness  and  decision  of  his  reli- 
gious character?     Another  very   important   query  relates  to 

1  "  The  Importance  of  the  Gospel  Ministry  ;  an  Introductory  Lecture,  de- 
livered at  the  opening  of  the  Winter  Session  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  New  Jersey,  Nov.  9,  1827.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in  the  said  Seminary.  Prince- 
ton, N.  J.  1827."— sVo.  Pp.  56. 


1828.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  137 

that  preliminary  literary  furniture,  which  is  indispensable  to  the 
pursuit  of  the  study  of  Theology  to  any  advantage.  And,  al- 
though the  account  which  you  give  of  his  intellectual  charac- 
ter is  strongly  favorable,  yet  intellectual  vigour,  you  well  know, 
though  important,  cannot  possibly  supply  the  phice  of  elemen- 
tary knowledge.  *  "'  [That  he]  has  never  graduated  "^^  *  is  a 
small  matter,  if  he  really  possess,  substantially,  the  knowledge 
which  is  usually  found  in  a  graduate:  nay,  if  he  possess  the 
leading  branches  of  that  knowledge,  he  may  proceed  with  tol- 
erable success.  If  then,  in  your  judgment,  he  has  acquired,  no 
matter  where,  such  an  amount  of  the  languages  as  will  enable 
him  to  pursue,  with  any  degree  of  advantage,  the  course  of 
study  in  this  Seminary,  encourage  him  to  come  on.  ^  * 

*  If  you  and  this  gentleman,  after  due  consultation,  should 
be  of  the  opinion  that  his  preliminary  education  is  not  sufficient 
either  for  our  rules,  or  for  his  own  advantage,  in  studying 
Theology,  suppose  he  were  soon  to  come  on,  and  to  spend  a 
year  in  Princeton  in  ^  '^  academical  studies.  It  would  lead  to 
a  little  delay  in  the  prosecution  of  his  theological  course ;  but 
would,  in  my  opinion,  be  much  more  than  an  equivalent  for 
this  disadvantage.' 

Dr.  Miller  always  discouraged  a  hasty  entrance  upon  a 
theological  course.  His  published  introductory  lecture, 
to  be  noticed  hereafter,  upon  the  importance  of  mature 
preparatory  study  for  the  ministry,  though  treating  of  the 
professional  training  alone,  exhibited,  of  necessity,  princi- 
ples applicable  to  every  stage  of  education.  One  of  his 
pupils  said,  in  after  years, 

*I  was  somewhat  advanced  in  life  when  I  studied  with  a  view 
to  the  ministry,  and  therefore  felt  inclined  to  omit  a  regular 
course  in  college.  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller,  asking  his  views  upon 
the  subject,  and  inquiring  how  students  generally  stood  in  the 
Seminary,  who  had  not  pursued  a  college  course.  His  reply 
was  such  as  any  one  acquainted  with  him  would  expect.  He 
said,  emphatically,  that  neither  the  wants  of  the  church,  nor 
advancing  years,  would  justify  a  superficial  preparation  for  en- 
tering the  theological  seminary.' 

Mr.  Wisner  wrote  for  permission  to  publish  in  his  new 
magazine,  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims,"  Dr.  Miller's  letter 
to  Dr.  Codman,  an  extract  from  which  has  been  given  on 
a  previous  page.^  After  granting  this  request.  Dr.  Miller 
added,  in  a  letter  of  the  20th  of  February,  1828. 

1  1  Vol.  292,  293. 


138  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  2. 

*  Will  you  allow  a  man  who  is  growing  old,  and  who,  what- 
ever may  be  his  lack  of  practical  wisdom,  has  seen  more  than 
a  score  of  years  beyond  your  number,  to  offer  one  suggestion 
respecting  your  new  magazine? 

'  It  is  this — that,  in  my  opinion,  it  will  be  wise  to  keep  out 
of  view,  as  much  as  possible,  the  points  of  polemical  discussion 
bandied  about  among  the  Orthodox  themselves;  and  to  exhibit 
the  great  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  under  an  aspect  practical, 
solemn,  and  adapted  to  take  hold  of  the  conscience  and  the 
heart.  Whenever  you  address  men  in  a  polemical  tone,  and 
with  the  refinements  and  spirit  of  polemical  speculation,  they 
will  seldom  fail  to  listen  to  you  with  a  corresponding  feeling ; 
nay,  with  a  sort  of  captious,  pugilistick  watchfulness — with  a 
disposition  to  parry  and  thrust — which  is  greatly  removed,  as 
it  appears  to  me,  from  the  desirable  state  of  mind.  But,  when 
you  speak  in  the  tone  and  spirit  of  the  Bible,  addressing  directly 
and  tenderly  the  conscience  and  the  heart,  as  well  as  the  under- 
standing, your  hearers  will  be  apt,  unconsciously,  to  be  off  their 
guard,  to  lay  themselves  more  open  to  your  stroke,  and,  of 
course,  to  receive  it  in  all  its  plenary  force.  I  add  no  more :  a 
word  is  sufficient.     *     * 

'Be  pleased  to  put  down  my  name  as  a  subscriber  to  the 
"  Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims." ' 

The  following  brief  extracts  are  from  a  long  letter  which 
appeared  in  the  "New-Jersey  Sabbath  School  Journal" 
for  March,  1829,  with  only  the  explanation,  that  it  had 
been  addressed,  by  Dr.  Miller,  to  a  clergyman  of  that 
State,  by  whose  permission  it  was  published. 

"Kev.  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  September  10,  1828. 

"  When  you  requested  me,  the  other  day,  to  express,  in  writing, 
my  opinion  of  the  Sabbath  School  system,  as  pursued  in  the 
United  States,  I  was,  I  confess,  in  some  degree  surprised.  I 
had  been  under  the  impression  that  all  the  enlightened  and  re- 
flecting part  of  the  community  were  already  so  deeply  convinced 
of  the  utility  and  importance  of  that  invaluable  addition  to  the 
other  benevolent  institutions  of  the  day,  that  all  further  reason- 
ing in  its  behalf  was  unnecessary.  If  this  be  not  the  case,  I 
regret  the  fact;  and  am  ready,  most  cheerfully,  to  contribute 
my  mite  toward  the  promotion  of  w^hat  is  so  extremely  desirable 
as  a  correct  and  universal  public  sentiment  in  reference  to  this 
subject."     '"^     * 

"I  once  thought  there  was  no  good  reason  why  the  children 
of  intelligent,  pious  parents — parents  able  and  willing  to  instruct 
their  own  children — should  be  sent  to  the  Sabbath  School ;  being 


1828.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  139 

under  the  impression  that  everything  in  the  way  of  tuition 
could  be  quite  as  well,  if  not  better,  done  for  them  at  home. 
But  I  have  altered  my  mind  on  this  point.  I  would  urge  chil- 
dren of  all  classes  to  attend.  I  think  it  my  duty  to  send  my 
own  children,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  example,  and  to  stimu- 
late others,  whose  children  may  be  less  favorably  situated,  to 
do  the  same;  but  also  from  a  j^ersuasion  that  my  children  are 
really  likely  to  be  better  managed,  and  in  some  respects  better 
instructed,  in  a  well  conducted  Sabbath  School,  than  under  my 
own  roof.     ^     ^^ 

"In  truth,  I  am  of  the  opinion,  that  every  minister  ought  to 
consider  the  sheet-anchor  of  his  hopes,  not  only  for  the  Church 
and  the  State,  but  also  for  his  ovv'n  personal  comfort,  usefulness 
and  popularity,  as  lying,  under  God,  peculiarly  with  the  children 
and  young  people  of  his  charge.  If  I  could  be  so  far  forgetful 
of  my  allegiance  and  duty  to  my  Divine  Master,  as  to  pursue, 
supremely,  my  own  personal  comfort  and  popular  acceptance, 
I  could  not,  I  am  persuaded,  take  any  other  course  so  well 
adapted  to  the  attainment  of  my  object  as  that  of  paying  un- 
wearied attention  to  the  rising  generation ;  mingling  much  with 
them ;  and  taking  a  deep  interest  and  an  active  part  in  every 
lawful  institution  intended  to  promote  knowledge,  virtue  and 
piety  among  them." 

One  of  the  foregoing  extracts  might  seem  to  imply  more 
than  Dr.  Miller  intended.  It  is  the  one  referring  to  his 
own  children.  All  know  that  parents,  too  often,  make  the 
Sabbath  School  an  excuse  for  necflecting;  religious  instruction 
at  home  ;  but  against  such  neglect  the  ordering  of  his  own 
household  was  a  constant  protest.  Explaining  his  words 
by  his  practice,  we  must  conclude  that  he  only  meant  to 
represent  the  Sabbath  School  as  an  important  auxiliary  to 
family  training,  and  as  likely  to  secure  some  benefits,  which 
really  cannot  be  so  well  secured  at  home.  Thus,  the  various 
incitements  which  association  in  study  supplies  may  often  be 
greatly  multiplied  in  the  Sabbath  School. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  letters  to  Dr.  Sprague  of 
the  6th  and  8th,  respectively,  of  October,  1828. 

'I  have  only  time,  at  present,  to  say,  that  my  attendance  at 
the  meeting  of  the  "Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions" was  truly  gratifying.  I  wish  you  could  have  been  present 
to  witness  the  harmony,  the  christian  aftection,  the  increasing 
energy,  and  the  growing  patronage  of  that  noble  institution ;  an 
institution,  which,  I  trust,  is  destined  to  share  largely  with  our 


140  QUIET    YEARS.  [CII.  28.  2. 

brethren  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  in  hastening  on 
those  days,  when  the  knowledge  and  glory  of  the  Lord  shall 
cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters  fill  the  sea.' 

*I  cordially  congratulate  you  on  the  recent  collegiate  honor 
with  which  you  have  been  crowned.  I  am  sure  you  will  do  me 
the  favor  to  believe,  that  I  rejoice  in  all  your  honors,  as  well 
as  all  your  comforts  and  usefulness.  A  venerable  clergyman, 
now  no  more,  said,  when  he  had  received  a  similar  honor,  "I 
hope  this  event  will  produce  no  other  efiect,  than  to  make  me 
more  deeply  humble,  and  more  emulous  to  excel  in  true  piety, 
in  ardent  zeal,  in  active  labor  for  Christ,  and  in  every  qualifi- 
cation which  ought  to  adorn  the  character  of  a  devoted  chris- 
tian Doctor."  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  question  that  you  will, 
from  the  heart,  adopt  the  same  language.  To  be  dubbed  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity  is,  in  itself,  a  little  thing ;  but  the  smallest 
things  may  be  made  great  in  their  effects  on  our  own  minds,  if 
properly  improved,  and  really  sanctified.' 

About  the  year  1828,  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  received  a 
call  to  Philadelphia,  in  regard  to  which  Dr.  Miller  wrote 
to  him  a  letter  which  appears  in  his  Autobiography.^ 
This  letter,  which  follows,  will  be  mentioned  again  in  the 
sequel. 

"  Before  this  letter  reaches  your  hands,  you  will  have  been 
apprised  that  the  church  of  w^hich  our  friend  Dr.  Skinner  was 
lately  the  pastor  has  given  you  a  unanimous  call  to  become 
their  minister. 

"Some  are  disposed  to  smile  at  this  measure  as  a  sort  of  des- 
perate effort  at  retaliation  for  robbing  Philadelphia  of  Dr. 
Skinner.  Others  view  it  as  a  plan  by  no  means  hopeless.  But 
ALL,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  this  region,  would  most  cordially  re- 
joice in  the  success  of  the  application,  and  hail  your  arrival  in 
Philadelphia  as  an  event  most  devoutly  to  be  wished  by  all  the 
friends  of  Zion  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"My  dear  Brother,  I  beg,  with  all  the  earnestness  which  I  am 
capable  of  feeling  or  uttering,  that  you  will  not  either  lightly 
consider  or  hastily  reject  this  call.  I  do  seriously  believe  that, 
however  painful  the  step  of  removal  to  Philadelphia  might  be, 
both  to  the  friends  of  religion  in  Massachusetts  and  to  yourself, 
the  residue  of  your  days  could  not  possibly  be  disposed  of  (so 
far  as  human  views  can  go)  in  a  manner  so  much  calculated  to 
unite  the  friends  of  Christ  in  the  South  and  West  with  those  in 
the  East,  and  to  introduce  a  new  era  of  harmony,  love,  and  co- 
operation in  the  American  churches. 

^  2  Vol.,  133-135. 


1829.]  CORRESPOXDEXCE.  141 

"It  is  not  only  a  matter  of  immense  importance  that  the  in- 
dividual church  in  Philadelphia  which  gives  you  this  call  should 
be  supplied  with  a  pastor  wise,  pious,  peaceful,  prudent,  and  ac- 
ceptable, as  far  as  possible,  to  all  parties ;  but,  if  you  will  come 
to  that  place,  I  am  most  deeply  persuaded  that  you  will  have 
an  opportunity  of  diffusing  a  most  happy  and  reviving  influ- 
ence all  around  you  to  a  degree  which  very  few  men  in  our  coun- 
try have  ever  had ;  that  you  will  be  likely,  humanly  speaking, 
to  bring  together  feelings  and  efforts  which  are  now  widely 
separated,  and,  in  fact,  to  give  a  new  impulse  to  all  those  great 
plans  which  I  know  to  be  near  your  heart. 

"  By  removing  to  Philadelphia,  unless  I  utterly  miscalculate, 
you  would  not  be  likely  to  subtract  very  essentially  from  your 
usefulness  in  Massachusetts.  You  might  still,  by  means  of 
writing  and  occasional  visits,  continue  to  do  there  a  large  por- 
tion of  what  you  now  do,  while  your  usefulness  and  influence 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  from  New  England  to  New  Or- 
leans, might,  and  probably  would,  be  increased  ten  fold.  I 
have  no  doubt  that,  by  the  acceptance  of  the  station  to  which 
you  are  called,  your  opportunity  for  doing  good  in  the  American 
churches  would  be  doubled,  if  not  quadrupled  at  a  stroke. 

"Say  not  that  these  things  are  mere  matter  of  human  calcu- 
lation. They  are  so ;  and  yet,  I  think,  the  Book  of  God  and 
human  experience  furnish  an  abundant  foundation  for  them  to 
rest  upon.  The  truth  is,  we  want  nothing  for  the  benefit  of  our 
eighteen  hundred  churches,  next  to  the  sanctifying  spirit  of 
God,  so  much  as  an  individual  in  Philadelphia  (our  ecclesias- 
tical metropolis)  who  should  be  active,  energetic,  untiring,  com- 
prehensive in  his  plans,  and  firm  and  unmoved  in  his  purposes 
and  efi()rts. 

^  "  Will  you  not  cast  yourself  on  the  Lord's  strength  and  faith- 
fulness, and  come  and  help  us  to  unite  all  our  forces  in  one 
mighty  effort,  in  the  name  of  our  heavenly  King,  to  promote 
his  cause  at  home  and  abroad  ? 

"  With  the  cordiality  of  a  brother,  and  the  freedom  of  an  old 
friend,  I  conjure  you,  when  such  an  open  door  is  set  before  you, 
not  to  refuse  to  enter  it.  As  to  your  reception  among  us,  I 
hope  I  need  not  say  that  it  would  be,  universally,  with  glad 
hearts  and  open  arms.     May  the  Lord  direct  and  bless  you." 

The  following  letter  was  written  to  a  daughter  who,  on 
a  visit  to  Baltimore,  was  just  recovering  from  an  alarming 
iHness. 

'My  dear  Sarah,  Princeton,  April  8th,  1829. 

'Although,  on  receiving  your  letter,  last  evening,  the 
appearance  of  your  handwriting  confirmed  our  best  hopes,  and 
Vol.  II.— 13. 


142  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  2. 

all  that  had  been  said  in  our  letters  from  Baltimore,  with  re- 
gard to  your  returning  health,  there  was  another  aspect  under 
Vvhich  I  regarded  it  as  aifording  some  cause  of  regret.  I  have 
seen  such  little  things  affect  a  convalescent  state,  that  indeed  I 
trembled  over  the  effort  you  had  ipade  in  writing  ;  and  altliough 
Mary  wrote  to  you  yesterday,  I  feel  as  if  I  must,  to-day,  send 
you  a  cautionary  letter.  I  have  observed  that  an  over  effort 
of  mind  was  more  apt  to  produce  a  relapse,  than  a  little  bodily 
fatigue :  you  must  not,  therefore,  my  dear  child,  read  much 
more,  for  some  time,  than  your  Bible ;  and  I  am  reluctant  to 
add,  after  all  the  kindness  of  your  friends,  for  which  I  am  glad 
to  find  you  so  grateful,  that  you  must  not  have  many  visitors  or 
much  conversation.  I  need  not  caution  you  against  the  indul- 
gence of  your  appetite,  which  will  probably  be  very  urgent 
after  so  long  a  restraint,  because,  if  you  commit  any  error,  it 
will  probably  be  on  the  other  extreme.  I  want  you  now  to 
feed  yourself  a  little,  that  you  may  regain  some  of  your  lost 
strength. 

'  But  most  of  all  the  thought  presses  upon  my  heart,  that  you 
will  let  this  last  impressive  call  pass  away  unimproved.  You 
have  slighted  many  before,  and  quieted,  I  have  no  doubt,  many 
a  suggestion  of  the  Spirit,  by  saying,  "Go  thy  way  for  this 
time ;  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  etc."  My  dear  Sarah, 
did  you  ever  leave  a  piece  of  temporal  business,  that  you  thought 
of  some  importance,  unfinished,  on  account  of  some  trifling  in- 
terruption, with  the  feeling  of  perfect  certainty  that  you  Avould 
have  more  than  enough  time  to  attend  to  it  in  future ;  but  that 
time  never  came?  I  have  often  done  so,  and  have  often  trem- 
bled, since  I  have  seen  the  sure  reality  of  everlasting  things,  at 
the  thought,  that  so  I  might  have  left  my  preparation  for  eter- 
nity. Every  thing  which  I  have  before  mentioned  as  calcu- 
lated to  injure  your  returning  bodily  health,  may  likewise  hin-' 
der  the  attainment  of  health  to  your  immortal  spirit.  Oh  that 
you  felt  far  more  than  I  now  do,  that  "  Noiu  is  the  accepted 
time,  and  now  the  day  of  salvation"  ;  and  with  one  gathering 
up  of  your  mind  would  resolve  to  seek  till  you  find.  I  was  so 
concerned  for  you  yesterday,  that  I  could  not  help  interesting 
the  ladies  at  our  little  prayer  meeting,  in  the  evening,  for  you ; 
and  jNIrs.  Wilson  seemed  to  make  the  case  so  much  her  own, 
that  I  could  not  help  hoping,  that  "two  had  been  agreed"  on 
this  subject. 

'Farewell !  I  desire  to  commit  you,  for  time  and  eternity,  in 
faith,  into  better  hands  than  ray  own ;  although  I  think  I  can 
say,  that  I  am  your 

'Sincerelv  affectionate  mother, 
'Sarah  Miller.' 


1829.]  PUBLICATIONS.  143 


3.    PUBLICATIOXS. 

In  1829,  again,  we  find  the  students  of  the  Seminary 
requesting  a  copy  of  Dr.  Miller's  Introductory  Lecture  for 
publication.  It  was  published  accordingly.^  A  short  ex- 
tract will  exhibit  its  occasion  and  desi^jn. 

«>;=  *  The  friends  of  this  Institution  have  often  remarked, 
with  surprize  and  regret,  how  very  small  a  portion  of  those 
who  study  here  can  be  prevailed  upon  to  remain  for  three 
years,  and  to  complete  the  regular  course.  Seldom,  if  ever,  I 
think,  have  we  been  able  to  persuade  as  many  as  one-half  of 
any  class  to  continue  their  studies  to  the  close  of  the  prescribed 
period.  Many  study  but  half  the  usual  time  ;  others  not  more 
than  a  third  part ;  and  some,  after  spending  with  us  a  single 
short  summer  session,  have  gone  forth,  and  announced  them- 
selves to  the  churches  as  pupils  of  our  Seminary.  Against  this 
great,  and,  I  fear,  undiminishing  evil,  the  Professor^hstYe,  from 
time  to  time,  raised  the  voice  of  solemn  remonstrance ;  the 
Board  of  Directors  have,  once  and  again,  recorded  their  pointed 
testimony;  and  the  General  Assembly  have  expressed  their 
utter  disapprobation,  in  terms  which  might  have  been  expected 
to  be  decisive  in  their  influence  on  all  considerate  minds.  Still 
the  deplorable  evil  in  question  continues  to  prevail  Presby- 
teries either  give  it  their  direct  countenance,  or  cannot  be  pre- 
vailed upon  to  set  their  faces,  with  suflicient  firmness,  against 
it ;  and  short  sighted  or  infatuated  young  men,  setting  at 
naught  the  counsels  of  experience,  and  urged  on,  either  by  in- 
considerate friends,  or  their  own  impatience,  ascend  the  pulpit, 
and  undertake  to  teach  others,  while  they  need  to  be  taught 
themselves  "  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God." 

"  I  shall  not,  at  present,  detain  you  with  any  comments  on 
the  tendency  of  this  practice  to  injure  the  Seminary  itself;  to 
render  it  both  less  useful,  and  less  respectable,  in  the  eyes  of  an 
enlightened  religious  public,  *  ^  more  especially,  because 
there  are  other  considerations,  still  more  momentous,  on  which 
I  consider  it  my  duty  now  to  enlarge."^  \ 

The  Lecturer  urges  more  thorough  preparation  on  th^ 
grounds  (1)  of  our  obligation  "to  serve  Christ  with  the 
very  best  faculties    and  attainments    that  we   possess,  or 

1  "  The  Importance  of  Mature  Preparatory  Stud.y  for  the  Ministry :  an 
Introductory  Lecture,  delivered  at  the  Opening  of  the  Summer  Session  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  July  3,  1829.  By  Samuel 
Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in 
the  said  Seminary.     Princeton  Press:  1829."— 8vo.     Pp.  42.  2  Pp.  5,  6. 


144  QUIET    YEARS.  [OH.  28.   3. 

can  possibly  acquire;"  (2)  ''  of  the  extent,  difficulty,  and 
importance  of  the  various  departments  of  knowledge 
■which  are  necessarily  included  in"  a  proper  theological 
course  ;  (3)  'Hhat  he  who  does  not  lay  a  good  foundation  in 
the  beginning,  will  never  be  likely  to  supply  the  deficiency 
afterwards  ;"  (4)  of  the  importance  of  thoroughness,  "  not 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  storing  the  mind  with  knowledge, 
but  also  for  the  purpose  of  that  intellectual  and  moral  dis- 
cipline, which  is  of  no  less  value  to  a  minister  of  Christ 
than  theological  learning;"  (5)  of  "the  opinion  and  prac- 
tice of  our  Fathers  in  all  past  ages;"  (6)  "  that  the  pre- 
sent state  of  the  world,  and  especially  of  our  own  country, 
calls  for  more  various  and  profound  knowledge  in  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  than  was  demanded  in  former  times  ;"  (7) 
"  that  learning  is,  at  present,  at  a  low  ebb  among  the  Clergy 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church;"  (8)  '^  that  our  country,  and 
especially *some  parts  of  it,  stand  in  need  of  nothing,  at 
this  moment,  (next  to  the  sanctifying  grace  of  God,)  so  much 
as  a  large  supply  of  truly  able,  pious,  and  well-trained 
ministers  of  the  Gospel."  Dr.  Miller  had  delivered  the 
substance  of  this  lecture  at  the  opening  of  the  winter  ses- 
sion, November  9th,  1821 ;  and  he  remarks,  "  I  cannot 
anticipate,  beloved  Pupils,  what  efiect  this  earnest  appeal 
may  produce  on  your  minds;  especially  when  it  was  pro- 
ductive of  so  little  sensible  effect  on  your  predecessors, 
^ight  years  ago." 

Professor   Moses    Stuart,   on    the    16th    of   September, 
wrote, 

*  I  received  by  mail  a  copy  of  your  Lecture  on  a  full  course  of 
theological  study,  for  which  I  desire  to  thank  you  in  no  ordi- 
nary way.  I  have  never  seen  the  subject  treated  so  much 
ad  unguem,  or  the  details  of  it  so  well  arranged  and  filled  out. 
I  could  almost  thank  those  young  men,  who,  by  refusing  to 
hearken  to  your  counsel,  given  some  years  ago,  have  "  provoked 
you  to  the  good  work,"  which  you  have  now  performed.  There 
is  evidently  an  energy  in  the  whole  performance,  which  is  sel- 
dom found  in  things  of  a  similar  nature,  and  which  does  great ' 
credit  to  your  feelings  and  your  understanding.  We  all  feel 
here,  that  the  lecture  should  be  circulated  through  our  whole 
country.  I  have  given  my  opinion  to  Mr.  Cornelius,  that  he 
had  better  beg  permission  to  insert  it  in  his  Journal  of  Educa- 
tion, which  will  difiuse  it  very  widely.     In  my  judgment,  our 


1829.]  PUBLICATIONS.  145 

American  Education  Society  ought  to  make  a  tract  of  it,  and 
fill  our  country  with  it.  It  is  a  noble  effort,  on  one  of  the 
most  important  subjects  that  can  be  named,  in  regard  to  pros- 
pects of  usefulness,  which  02^3n  before  students  for  the  minis- 
try. There  is  not  a  word  in  the  whole  which  I  could  wish 
subtracted  or  altered ;  nor  do  any  additions  seem  to  be  requi- 
site. I  repeat  my  most  heartfelt  thanks  for  this  important  and 
excellent  service.' 

At  the  installation  of  the  Kev'd  AYilliam  B.  Sprague, 
D.D.,  as  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Albany,  Dr.  Miller,  by  invitation,  preached  in  1829.  The 
session  and  trustees  of  the  church,  for  themselves  and  the 
congregation,  requested  a  copy  of  his  sermon,  and  it  was 
published.^ 

Speaking,  in  this  discourse,  of  the  "  deplorable  lack  of 
doctrinal  information  among  the  mass  of  the  people,"  Dr. 
Miller  said, 

"A  second  reason  for  the  undoubted  deficiency  of  doctrinal 
knowledge,  even  in  the  church,  may,  perhaps,  be  drawn  from 
the  light  and  ephemeral  character  of  what  ive  may  call  the  reli- 
gious literature  of  the  day.  Have  not  religious  newspapers,  and 
other  \\gh.t  periodical  imhlications,  in  a  great  measure  taken  the 
place  of  the  larger  and  more  instructive  works  before  alluded 
to  ? — publications  which,  by  their  number,  have  left  little  time 
for  other  reading ;  and  by  their  superficial  character,  little  taste 
for  reading  of  a  more  deep,  solid,  and  connected  kind.  Is  it 
not  manifest,  that  the  mass,  even  of  the  hopefully  pious,  have  a 
large  portion  of  their  reading  time  so  much  occupied,  and  their 
taste  so  much  formed,  by  the  details  of  religious  intelligence;  by 
the  exciting  eloquence  of  anniversaries ;  and  by  the  pungent 
discussion  to  which  new  projects  and  controversies  give  rise ; 
that  they  have  seldom  much  relish  for  the  calm  study  of  evan- 
gelical truth,  or  even  for  the  retired  and  prayerful  perusal  of 
the  Scriptures  ?  What  proportion  of  private  Christians  at  the 
present  day,  with  all  the  multiplication  and  almost  universal 
circulation  of  weekly  and  monthly  journals,  which  profess  to 
diftlise  religious  knowledge,  would  be  able,  think  you,  to  defend 
their  creed  against  a  plausible  adversary,  or  to  give  an  intelli- 
gent "  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them  ?"     I  am  afraid  a 

1  *•'  Holding  fast  the  Faithful  TVord :  a  Sermon,  delivered  in  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church,  in  the  City  of  Albany,  Aui^ust  2G,  1829  ;  at  the  Installati  lu 
of  the  Reverend  William  B.  Sprague,  U.D.,  as  Pastor  of  the  said  church. 
By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Cliurch  Gov- 
ernment, in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Albany  : 
1829. "—Titus  i.  9.— 8vo.     Pp.  49. 

13* 


146  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  3. 

very  small  proportion  indeed.  Nay,  is  there  not  some  reason 
to  fear,  that  even  ministers  of  the  Gospel,»in  many  cases,  have 
their  reading  too  much  confined  to  the  passing  periodical  v/orks 
of  the  day;  if  not  to  the  exclusion,  at  least  to  the  lamentable 
diminution  of  that  profounder  and  more  mature  study  to  Vv^hich 
the  spiritual  teachers  and  guides  of  the  people  ought  to  be  ever 
habitually  addicted  ?"^ 

In  regard  to  Christian  union  Dr.  Miller  remarked, 

"  It  is  one  of  the  glories,  my  friends,  of  the  period  in  which 
our  lot  is  cast,  that  professing  Christians  of  almost  every  de- 
nomination have  come  together,  and  are  more  and  more  coming 
together,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  their  efforts  to  send  BihleSj 
religious  Tracts,  the  living  Missionary,  and  the  system  of  Sah- 
bath-schools,  throughout  the  world.  I  repeat  it,  this  is  one  of 
the  great  glories  of  the  day  in  which  we  live.  Every  minister, 
and  every  Christian,  who  is  so  happy  as  to  live  at  this  day, 
ought  to  be  thankful  for  it  as  a  great  privilege ;  to  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  the  hallowed  co-operation ;  and  to  cheer  it  on  by 
his  example,  his  exertions,  and  his  substance,  as  well  as  by 
his  prayers.  If  there  be  a  minister  or  a  professing  Christian, 
who  looks  coldly  upon  these  great  plans  of  Christian  benevo- 
lence, and  refuses  to  put  his  hand  to  the  work, — "I  judge  him 
not ;"  but  he  really  seems  to  me  to  stand  very  near,  if  not 
actually  in,  the  ranks  of  those  who  "  will  not  come  up  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty,"  and  who  are  placed  in 
no  very  enviable  eminence  in  the  sacred  history. 

"  Be  it  remembered,  however,  that  one  fundamental  principle 
of  this  noble  union  is,  that  all  the  denominations  which  are 
parties  to  it,  promise  neither  to  compromit,  nor  to  invade  the 
peculiarities  of  each  other.  ^^  *  The  practical  language  of 
their  union  is  to  the  following  amount :  "  We  will  agree  to  act 
together,  for  the  sake  of  acting  with  more  strength,  and  upon  a 
greater  scale.  To  a  certain  extent,  we  are  entirely  united,  both 
in  principle  and  practice.  To  that  extent  we  can  cordially  co- 
operate without  difficulty.  And,  as  to  the  peculiar  doctrines 
which  the  pious  Presbyterian,  the  pious  Episcopalian,  or  the 
pious  Methodist  may  wish  to  see  circulated  within  the  limits  of 
his  own  denomination,  let  the  Pastors  and  Teachers  within  the 
respective  bounds  of  each,  take  care,  in  addition  to  the  general 
measures,  which  are  not  sectarian,  to  provide  for  conveying 
that  appropriate  instruction  which  each  may  deem  desirable 
and  important." 

"  This  is  fair,  honourable,  and  Christian-like.     But  let  me 

iPp.  15,  16. 


1830.]  PUBLICATIONS.  147 

request  you  to  take  particular  notice,  that  the  faithful  and 
happy  execution  of  this  admirable  plan,  not  only  allows,  but 
really  requires,  that  each  particular  denomination,  engaged  in 
carrying  it  on,  be  careful  not  to  neglect,  or  even  slight,  either 
of  its  parts.  '''  *  each  party  is  bound,  by  an  implied  pledge, 
to  be  diligent  in  instructing  its  own  population,  and  especially 
its  own  children  and  young  people,  in  its  own  peculiar  views 
of  truth  and  order.  If  this  be  not  done,  *  "^'^  the  next 
generation  will  grow  up  in  a  great  measure  unindoctrinated."^ 
On  the  1st  of  September,  after  his  return  from  Albany, 
Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  Dr.  Sprague, 

'  On  the  last  day  of  my  journey  home,  I  contracted,  in  some 
way  unknown  to  me,  a  severe  cold,  which  has  greatly  incom- 
moded me  during  the  last  three  days.  I  am,  however,  now, 
through  divine  goodness,  getting  much  better.  My  system  of 
starvation  succeeds  admirably." 

Dr.  Wisner,  proposing  to  prepare  a  memorial  of  his 
church,  the  Old  South,  of  Boston,  requested  information 
concerning  one  of  his  predecessors,  Dr.  Samuel  BLiir,  from 
Dr.  Miller,  who,  in  a  letter  dated  the  27th  of  March,  1830, 
communicating  all  the  facts  which  he  had  been  able  to  col- 
lect, remarked. 

'  *  "^  Truly,  when  I  first  read  your  letter,  I  could  hardly 
have  imagined  what  a  complicated  and  difficult  thing  it  would 
prove  to  collect  facts  concerning  a  man  so  much  distinguished 
as  Dr.  Blair  was.  But  so  it  is ; — and,  if  any  one,  sixty  or 
seventy  years  hence,  or  even  thirty  or  forty,  should  wish  to 
know  some  facts  concerning  you  or  me,  they  will,  perhaps,  have 
to  hunt  for  them  very  laboriously,  and,  it  may  be,  unsuccess- 
fully. Oh,  how  poor  a  thing  is  posthumous  reputation  !  And, 
on  the  other  hand,  how  infinitely,  how  absorbingly  important 
that  honour  wdiich  cometh  from  God  ! ' 

In  1830,  Dr.  Sprague  published  a  volume  of  Lectures  to 
young  people,  to  which,  at  his  request.  Dr.  Miller  prefixed 
an  Introductory  Essay.  Of  this  essay  the  Spirit  of  the 
Pilgrims  said.  It  "is  conceived  with  great  felicity,  and  is 
happily  adapted  to  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  de- 
signed."^ In  regard  to  the  volume,  Dr.  Miller  wrote,  on 
the  22d  of  April, 

'You  ought  not  to  be  your  own  publisher,  certainly,  unless 
1  Pp.  22-24.  2  2  Vol.,  (1S30,)  473. 


1-48  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  4. 

you  could  undertake  to  be  your  own  retail  vender,  which  would 
be  neither  practicable  nor  proper  for  you.' 

The  Rev'd  William  D.  Snodgrass,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the 
Murray  street  Pr^byterian  Church  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  in  concert  with  other  clergymen  of  that  city,  made 
arrangements  for  a  course  of  Sabbath  evening  lectures  in 
his  church,  each  by  a  different  preacher,  in  the  Spring  of 
1830.  These  discourses,  thirteen  in  number,  were  all  af- 
terwards published  in  a  single  volume,  and  have  been  known 
as  "The  Murray-street  Lectures."  The  sixth  was  by  Dr. 
Miller:  "The  Rejection  of  Revealed  Truth  referable  to 
Moral  Depravity" — founded  upon  Hebrews  iii.  12. 

4.     Gathering  Clouds. 

The  earlier  and  more  quiet  progress  of  New-Schoolism  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  already  adverted  to,  so 
far,  especially,  as  it  was  connected  more  or  less  directly 
with  Dr.  Miller's  life  and  opinions,  And  now  commenced 
an  earnest  and  deeply  agitating  struggle,  in  which  he  was 
soon  almost  of  necessity  involved,  and  in  which  he  took  the 
liveliest  interest.  His  course  through  this  conflict,  it  may 
be  premised,  did  not  satisfy  either  of  the  parties,  properly 
so  called,  that  divided  the  Church.  He  was  accused  by 
more  thorough  partizans,  now  from  one  side,  and  now  from 
the  other,  of  timidity,  vacillation,  inconsistency,  a  failure  to 
support  his  friends,  or  opposition  to  needful  reform.  His 
being,  in  principle,  an  Old-school  man  was,  perhaps,  never 
doubted  ;  yet  unquestionably,  at  times,  both  the  Old  and 
New-school  regarded  his  course  as  favorable  to  the  plans  of 
the  latter ;  who,  upon  their  final  defeat,  were  particularly 
disposed  to  complain  of  his  disappointing  their  expecta- 
tions. 

It  is  evident  that,  in  the  trying  circumstances  of  this 
case,  the  position  of  a  professor,  in  a  theological  seminary 
supported  and  controlled  by  the  whole  Church,  demanded 
peculiar  caution  and  moderation — a  fact  which  both  parties 
discerned,  however  dimly,  and  both,  decidedly  enough, 
though  each  but  partially  and  in  its  own  interest,  expressed. 
To  be  opposed  by  a  public  servant  of  this  kind  seemed  to 
each  particularly  objectionable,  and  all  the  more  because  a 
professorship  gave  special  influence  and  power.     These,  of 


1830.]  GATHERING    CLOUDS.  149 

course,  involved  special  responsibility.  Every  man  is  ac- 
countable according  to  his  capacity  and  opportunities. 
But  Dr.  Miller  did  not  believe  in  the  doctrine,  often  ad- 
vanced in  deprecation  of  an  opponent's  efforts,  that  a  pro- 
fessor in  such  an  institution  ought  to  be  always  a  silent, 
well  nigh  uninterested  spectator  of  the  Church's  intestine 
struggles.  If  he  has  a  larger  congregation  than  the  ordi- 
nary pastor, — even  the  aggregate  of  all  the  congregations 
of  the  Church, — that  distinguishes  him  from  the  other,  not 
as  to  the  nature  of  his  rights  and  duties — only  as  to  their 
importance,  and  the  measure  of  responsibility  involved. 

No  doubt  Dr.  Miller  did  change,  somewhat,  his  views  of 
the  Church's  need,  though  not  his  principles,  during  the 
course  of  this  great  struggle ;  but  to  care  more  for  being 
right,  than  for  being  consistent,  was  hardly  a  fault.  He 
may  have  been  less  discerning  than  some  others,  or  have 
had  less  opportunity  of  knowing,  as  to  some  points,  the 
exact  state  of  things;  and,  in  candor,  probably,  it  must  be 
admitted,  that  he  judged,  not  error,  but  certain  erring 
brethren,  too  leniently;  that  he  was  slow  to  believe  personal 
friends,  especially,  capable  of  such  a  departure  from  the 
truth,  and  such  a  misconstruction  of  their  ordination  en- 
gagements, as  were  charged  upon  them  ;  that  he  entertain- 
ed too  favorable  a  view  of  the  Church's  actual  condition ; 
and  was  not  sufficiently  awake  to  the  necessity  of  unusual 
measures  for  its  purification  and  defence.  It  always  hap- 
pens, however,  in  the  heat  of  conflict,  that  cautious,  moder- 
ate men  please  neither  side,  and  are  blamed  for  what  really 
deserves  approval  and  praise. 

New  England  theology  of  about  the  shade  of  Dr. 
Dwight's  sometimes  with  a  little  deeper  tinge,  under  the 
name  of  "  moderate  Hopkinsianism,"  had  been  hitherto 
tolerated,  as  we  have  seen,  though  not  without  objection, 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  One  chief  evil  of  this  toler- 
ance was,  that  the  door  stood  open,  to  an  indefinite  extent, 
for  the  ingress  of  new  errors.  No  efi*ectual  alarm,  however, 
was  sounded,  until  Taylorism,  or  the  New  Haven  Theology, 
came  into  notice,  and  was  believed  to  have  effected  a  lodg- 
ment within  the  walls. 

"  In  the  year  1829,"  says  Dr.  Spring,  "a  different  turn  was 
given  to  these  discussions  by  the  novel  and  unscriptural  specu- 


150  QUIET   YEARS.  [CH.  28.  4. 

lations  of  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  W.  Taylor,  D.D.,  who  occupied 
the  chair  of  theology  in  Yale  College.  I  had  j^ublished  a  "Dis- 
sertation on  the  Means  of  Regeneration,"  an  enlargement  of  the 
annual  discourse  preached  before  the  directors  and  students  of 
of  our  owR  theological  seminary  at  Princeton.  I  was  requested 
by  a  large  number  of  students  to  publisli  it ;  and  without  the 
least  thought  of  eliciting  any  new  views  upon  the  subject,  ac- 
quiesced in  their  request.  It  was  reviewed  in  the  Christian 
Spectator  in  the  spirit  of  fraternal  kindness,  and  even  commen- 
dation; but  it  gave  rise  to  a  full  and  unexpected  development 
of  some  novel  views  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Taylor,  that  excited 
no  small  alarm  among  evangelical  ministers,  and  that  became 
the  subject  of  a  prolonged  and  sharp  discussion."^ 

The  first  Presbyterian  minister,  against  whom  the  charge 
of  having  adopted  New  Haven  errors  w^as  judicially  made, 
was  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes.  He  had  not  only  been  Dr. 
Miller's  pupil  for  three  years^  in  the  Seminary,  but  as  the 
accomplished  private  instructor,  a  part  of  that  time,  of  sev- 
eral of  his  children,  had  occupied  a  high  place  in  his  es- 
teem, and  been  brought  into  relations  with  him  of  particu- 
lar friendship  and  intimacy.  He  was  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  when, 
during  the  winter  of  1829-30,  the  First  Church  of  Phila- 
delphia had  its  attention  particularly  directed  to  him  as  a 
candidate  for  its  vacant  pulpit.  This  church  had  con- 
tinued for  more  than  a  year,  first  through  Dr.  James  P. 
Wilson's  infirmities,  and  then  by  his  formal  resignation, 
without  a  pastor,  and  suffering,  as  it  was,  seriously  from 
such  a  condition  of  things,  proved  sensitively  jealous  of 
any  interference  with  its  rights,  real  or  imaginary.  Mr. 
Barnes  had  not  preached  for  the  congregation,  but  a  few 
of  its  members  had  heard  him ;  and  a  sermon,  entitled 
"The  Way  of  Salvation,"  which  he  had  delivered  in  Mor- 
ristown a  year  before — the  8th  of  February,  1829 — and 
which  was  printed  early  in  1830,  was  circulated  freely  by 
some  who  favored  giving  him  a  call,  as  a  means  of  securing 
that  end.  But  the  discourse  fell  into  the  hands  of  critics 
as  well  as  of  admirers  ;  and  soon  it  was  noised  abroad  that 
it  was  chargeable  with  serious  error  ;  also  that  Dr.  Green 

1  2  Pers.  Eemiaiscenees,  23.  For  an  account  of  tlie  earlier  developments  of 
the  New  Haven  Theology,  and  its  after  issues^  see  Dr.  Baird's  Hist,  of  the  New 
Bchool,  chaps.  XII.  XIII.  etc. 

2  1S20-23. 


1830.]  GATHERING    CLOUDS.  151 

and  some  others  intended,  on  this  ground,  if  a  call  should 
be  given,  to  resist  its  prosecution.  Dr.  Green  disclosed 
this  intention  to  Dr.  Miller,  who  made,  on  the  20th  of 
March,  the  following  reply  : — 

*  *  ^  1  have  revolved  again  and  again  in  my  mind  what 
you  say  with  respect  to  your  intentions,  when  the  Presbytery 
meets,  if  a  certain  event  shall  occur ;  and  I  now  feel  prepared 
to  tell  you,  with  all  frankness,  that  I  think  such  a  course  will 
by  no  means  be  the  wisest  that  can  be  adopted.  I  am  perfectly 
aware,  my  dear  Sir,  that  I  am  about  again  to  express  opinions, 
which,  as  in  some  former  instances,  will  impair  your  confidence 
in  my  firmness  as  well  as  my  judgment.  This  I  shall  regret. 
But  the  same  conscientious  regard  to  duty,  and  to  what  appear 
to  me  the  vital  interests  of  the  Church  in  Philadelphia,  impels 
me  to  say,  that,  with  my  present  views,  if  I  were  a  member  of 
the  Presbytery,  and  if  a  call  for  Mr.  Barnes  were  laid  before 
that  body,  I  should  utterly  oppose  a  motion  to  refuse  to  allow 
it  to  be  prosecuted.     My  reasons  are  these : — 

*1.  I  have,  to-day,  unexpectedly,  had  an  opportunity  of  con- 
versing with  two  persons — clergymen — one  of  them  a  decided 
Confession  of  Faith  man,  and  the  other  nearly  so ;  both  of 
whom,  somewhat  to  my  surprise,  assure  me,  that  Mr.  B.  does 
not  adopt  the  j^eculiarities  of  the  iSTew  Haven  theology,  and 
that  he  is  not  more  at  variance  with  our  Confession  of  Faith 
than  Dr. ,  if  so  much.     I  had  thought  otherwise. 

'2.  The  situation  of  the  Washington  Square  Church  is  de- 
plorable and  perplexing  in  the  extreme.  I  have  reason  to 
think  that  there  is  the  utmost  danger  of  their  being  torn  in 
pieces  and  scattered,  unless  they  make  some  tolerable  choice 
soon. 

'  3.  As  sure  as  you  refuse  to  allow  the  people  to  prosecute 
their  call,  if  they  make  out  one,  they  will,  with  highly  excited 
and  revolted  feelings,  break  off  from  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
declare  themselves  independent,  call  their  man  in  spite  of  you, 
bring  him  to  Philadelphia  with  a  spirit  which  will  render  him 
tenfold  more  hostile,  active  and  mischievous  than  if  he  came  in 
the  usual  way.  Thus  all  the  evils  which  you  fear  will  be  im- 
mensely multiplied  and  extended.  Whereas,  if  Mr.  B.  (provided 
he  is  willing  to  go  to  Philadelphia  at  all,  which  I  very  much 
doubt;  and  I  am  confident  he  will  not  except  in  consequence 
of  a  unanimous  call)  should  be  treated  kindly,  and  received 
courteously,  he  may,  I  think,  be  quite  as  much  conciliated  as 

Dr.  . '  Unless  I  greatly  mistake,  this    will  be  better,  far 

better,  than  to  run  the  risk  of  tearing  the  congregation  to  pieces, 


152  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  4. 

and,  then,  instead  of  preventing  their  obtaining  their  man, 
cause  them  to  get  him,  with  every  circumstance  of  theological 
excitement  on  their  part,  and  of  febrile  stimulus  on  his,  to  build 
up  a  new  and  separate  interest  in  the  city. 

*I  write  this,  my  dear  Sir,  in  haste  of  the  extremest  kind,  as 
the  mail  is  about  to  close,  and  I  am  anxious  to  tell  you  my 
feelings  without  loss  of  time.  *  "^  If  they  are  wrong,  forgive 
them  ;  but  I  am  as  sure  as  I  am  of  my  own  existence,  that  you 
will  find  them  all  realized,  if  you  take  the  step  contemplated. 

'Though  we  cannot  agree  always  in  opinion,  I  am,  my  dear 
Sir, 

'Very  cordially  and  respectfully  yours, 

'Sam'l  Miller. 

'P.  S.  If  you  knew  how  many  letters  I  have  been  under  the 
necessity  of  Avriting  within  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  you  would 
not  wonder  that  I  now  write  in  a  sort  of  anguish  of  haste,  and 
have  not  time  to  read  what  I  have  written.' 

Dr.  Green  and  those  who  acted  with  him  disregarded  the 
advice  thus  given  ;  and  amiable  and  thoroughly  conscien- 
tious as  that  advice  was,  it  would  be  hard,  consistently  with 
true  Presbyterian  principles,  to  condemn  their  course.  He, 
in  particular,  was  sometimes  accused,  with  acrimony,  of 
unchristian  bitterness ;  sometimes  represented  as  in  his 
dotage ;  but,  while  it  need  not  and  cannot  be  denied,  that 
this,  like  every  other  controversy,  engendered  some  repre- 
hensible asperities,  which,  however,  were  exhibited  on  the 
New-school  side  quite  as  freely,  to  say  the  least,  as  on  the 
Old  ;  and  while  the  regularity  and  wisdom  of  their  particu- 
lar measures  must  repeatedly  be  questioned;  it  may  be  main- 
tained with  confidence,  that  the  history  of  Presbyterianism 
in  the  United  States  presents  no  example  of  more  clear- 
sighted and  consistent  fidelity  to  the  truth,  or  of  a  more 
christian  spirit  in  its  maintenance,  than  Dr.  Green  and  his 
coadjutors  manifested.  Nor  were  they  the  "heresy  hunters" 
which  some  accused  them  of  being.  Not  only,  said  they 
with  great  force — not  only  has  Mr.  Barnes  preached  and 
published  serious  error,  and  that  too  in  a  bold,  aggressive, 
and  determined  way ;  but  the  very  sermon  in  which  he  has 
done  this  is  selected,  industriously  circulated,  and  thrust 
before  us,  as  the  very  ground  on  which  his  friends  plead 
for  calling  him  to  Philadelphia,  and  introducing  him  to  our 
most  immediate  Presby  terial  fellowship.  ITow  can  we  over- 
look what  is  thus  forced  upon  our  notice  ? 


1830.]  GATHERING    CLOUDS.  153 

^  Ten  days  later,  Mr.  Barnes  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller,  asking 
his  advice,  which  was  given  in  the  following  letters : — 

'My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  April  7,  1830. 

'Your  letter  of  March  30th  did  not  reach  me  till  the  3d  in- 
stant, a  few  minutes  before  I  stej^ped  into  my  gig,  to  go  to  New 
York,  to  preach,  last  Sabbath  evening,  one  of  the  Murray-street 
Lectures.  I  did  not  get  back  until  last  afternoon ;  and  was 
obliged,  almost  as  soon  as  I  entered  my  door,  to  resume  official 
duties,  which  rendered  it  impossible  for  me  to  write  by  the 
evening's  mail. 

'  I  had  heard  of  the  call  to  Philadelphia,  before  the  arrival 
of  your  letter ;  and  had  felt  much  interest  in  your  decision  of 
the  question  which  it  called  you  to  consider;  feeling,  as  I  have 
always  done,  since  I  first  knew  you,  a  very  cordial  desire,  that 
your  comfort,  and  honor,  and,  above  all,  your  usefulness,  might 
be  more  and  more  extended. 

'I  feel  great  diffidence,  however,  not  to  say  embarrassment, 
in  attempting  to  utter  a  word,  that  shall  bear  the  aspect  of 
advice,  on  this  occasion.  I  am  not,  indeed,  prepared  to  give 
decisive  advice  either  way.  I  know,  it  is  true,  much  concerning 
your  present  charge,  and  the  church  to  which  you  are  invited;  but 
I  do  not  know  fiicts  enough,  in  minute  detail,  concerning  either, 
to  be  able  to  make  up  my  mind,  with  entire  decision,  what 
course  you  ought  to  take. 

'As  to  your  personal  adaptedness,  on  the  score  of  hdelledual 
and  literary  qualifications,  for  a  charge  moi'e  refined  and  im- 
proved than  that  which  you  now  possess,  I  have  no  doubt; 
and,  as  to  this  point,  have  no  apprehension  of  failure,  if  you 
accept  the  call.  I  think,  too,  that  our  large  cities  not  only 
urgently  need,  but  imperatively  demand,  men  of  mental  activity 
and  studious  habits  such  as  yours.  Nay,  I  am  persuaded,  that 
unless  some  such  men,  men  who  have  a  little  experience  in  the 
ministry,  will  consent,  at  the  expense  of  many  sacrifices,  to  quit 
other  positions,  and  go  to  those  cities,  the  interests  of  the  Ke- 
deemer's  kingdom  must  essentially  sufi^'er.  Large  and  important 
as  the  congregation  of  Morristown  certainly  is,  it  is,  in  my  ap- 
prehension, much  easier  to  supply  it  with  a  popular  and  useful 
pastor,  than  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia. 

'In  a  word,  I  should  have  no  doubt  that  you  ought,  without 
hesitation,  to  pluck  up  stakes  and  go  to  Philadelphia,  if  I  could 
be  satisfied  with  regard  to  two  points ;  on  neither  of  which  do 
I  know  enough  to  be  able,  with  confidence,  to  pronounce. 

Tha  first  is,  your  social  adaptedness  to  the  peculiar  character 
and  wants  of  a  city  congregation :  in  other  words,  whether  you 
have  that  affiible,  visiting  turn,  which  has  always  appeared  to 
Vol.  II.— U. 


154  QUIET   YEARS.  [CH.  28. 4. 

me  highly  important,  and,  indeed,  in  a  measure,  indispensable, 
in  drawing  and  keeping  together  such  a  congregation;  sur- 
rounded as  they  are  with  such  a  variety  and  attraction  of  talent. 
It  is  true,  Dr.  Wilson  is  no  great  visitor ;  but  he  is  so  truly  ex- 
traordinary a  man ;  so  perfectly  unique  in  his  character;  that 
no  experience  in  favor  of  another,  from  his  habits,  can  be  safely 
drawn.  What  your  peculiar  tact  or  habit  in  this  respect  may 
be,  I  know  not ;  and  should,  therefore,  speak  blindly  if  I  offered 
an  opinion. 

'  The  second  is  the  platform  on  which  you  stand  with  regard 
to  theological  sentiment.  You  know  that  the  church  which 
has  called  you  occupies  the  edifice  in  which  the  General  Assem- 
bly annually  meet ;  and  that,  from  the  circumstance  of  its  being 
the  first  Presbyterian  Church  ever  erected  in  what  is  now  the 
United  States,  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  "mother  of  us  all." 
Now,  if  your  convictions  of  truth  and  duty  will  allow  you,  in 
case  you  go  to  Philadelphia,  to  unite  in  helping  forward  the 
cause  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  tolerable  accordance  with 
her  public  standards ;  if  you  can  see  your  w'ay  clear  to  fall  in 
with  the  brethren  there  in  harmonious  and  affectionate  co-opera- 
tion (I  do  not  mean  in  petty  peculiarities,  but)  in  the  great  in- 
terests and  efforts  of  our  church,  as  such ;  then  I  think  you  may 
be  eminently  useful  in  Philadelphia,  and  ought  to  go  thither. 
But,  if  your  convictions  should  be  such  as  to  render  this  course 
impracticable,  I  am  inclined  very  strongly  to  suspect,  that  a 
residence  there  would  be  by  no  means  very  comfortable ;  and 
that  your  usefulness  there  W'Ould  not  be  so  great  as  where  you 
now  are.  You  will  forgive  me,  my  dear  Sir,  for  making  this 
free  exposition  of  my  views.  You  have  solicited  them,  and  I 
give  them  with  paternal  and  most  affectionate  freedom.  I,  of 
course,  claim  no  authority  over  your  conscience;  yet  that  which 
I  deem  important,  in  reference  to  the  case  in  hand,  must  be 
stated  candidly,  if  I  undertake  to  speak  at  all.  If  I  knew  what 
your  sentiments  in  detail  are,  at  this  time,  I  should  be  better 
able  to  judge  and  advise  in  the  case  under  consideration;  but 
not  knowing,  certainly,  how  this  matter  is,  I  am  constrained  to 
doubt.  If  Dr.  Taylor,  of  New  Plaven,  with  all  his  present  sen- 
timents, were  to  ask  me  whether  he  ought  to  accept  a  call  to 
that  church,  I  should  have  no  difficulty  in  saying,  that  he  had 
better  not.  War  and  discomfort  would  be  the  result.  May 
God  bless  and  direct  you.  My  dear  Sir,  on  this  trying  occasion ! 
*  I  am  very  sincerely  and  affectionately  yours. 

'Samuel  Miller. 

'  P.  S.  I  write  this  letter  in  extreme  haste,  and  in  the  midst  of 
incessant  interruptions ;  and  have  not  time  to  read  it  over.    But 


1880.]  GATnERIXG    CLOUDS.  155 

you  may  rest  assured  it  is  written  with  the  warmest  wishes  for 
your  welfare  and  happiness ;  and  that  it  would  give  me  the  great- 
est pleasure  to  see  you  in  Philadelphia,  if  you  can  be  there  on 
the  principles  which  I  have  stated. 

*My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  April  13,  1830. 

'  When  I  wrote  to  you  the  other  day, — which  I  was  obliged  to 
do  in  extreme  haste,  or  not  at  all, — I  forgot  to  state  as  I  wished 
to  do,  and  now  take  an  opportunity  of  doing,  that  I  think  you 
ought,  by  all  means,  to  visit  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  to 
give  the  people,  as  well  as  yourself,  an  opportunity  of  mutual 
conference  and  intercourse  for  a  few  days.  The  fact  is,  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia  is  not  only  a  very 
important  congregation,  but  is  in  a  very  peculiar  and  delicate 
state.  A  disappointment,  and  especially  a  disappointment  con- 
nected with  any  disturbing  and  agitating  circumstances,  might 
be  deeply  injurious — possibly  almost  fatal.  I  really  hope, 
therefore,  that  you  will  go  on,  see  for  yourself,  and  take  a  view 
of  the  whole  ground.     May  the  Lord  direct  and  bless  you! 

'  Very  sincerely  and  cordially  yours. 

*  Eev.  Mr.  Barnes.  Samuel  Miller.' 

Dr.  Miller's  answer  clearly  foreshadowed,  as  not  improba- 
ble, at  least,  the  very  difficulties  which  afterwards  occurred. 
The  second  letter  was  prompted,  evidently,  by  an  earnest  con- 
cern for  the  welfare  of  the  First  Church  in  Philadelphia. 
In  accordance  with  the  advice  thus  given,  Mr.  Barnes 
visited  Philadelphia,  and  the  result  was  his  acceptance  of 
the  call. 

From  the  9th  of  April  to  the  14th  of  May  inclusive  the 
sermon  already  mentioned — "  The  Way  of  Salvation  " — 
was  made  a  subject  of  review  in  successive  numbers  of  "The 
Philadelphian,"  a  Presbyterian  newspaper,  edited  by  Dr. 
Ezra  S.  Ely;  the  Rev.  William  M.  Engles^  and  Dr.  James 
P.  Wilson  alternately  impugning  and  defending  the  doctrine 
of  the  discourse.  Pending  this  controversy,  on  the  20th  of 
April,  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  met,  and,  upon  ap- 
plication of  the  First  Church,  for  leave  to  prosecute  its  call 
before  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabeth  Town,  to  which  Mr. 
Barnes  belonged,  a  warm  discussion  arose,  which  occupied 
large  portions  of  four  successive  days.  By  a  vote  of  thirty- 
seven  to  ten,  it  was  decided  proper  to  plead  error  in  the 
sermon  as  a  bar  to  granting  the  application  ;  but  at  last,  by 

1  Afterward  D.  D. 


156  QUIET   YEARS.  [CII.  28.  4. 

twenty-one  to  twelve,  tliat  leave  should  be  given  to  prosecute 
the  call.  This  decision,  with  different  members  of  the  ma- 
jority, rested  on  different  grounds.  Most  of  them,  perhaps, 
admitted,  that  the  sermon  contained  error,  or  things  which 
had  a  suspicious  look,  or  were  unhappily  expressed ;  but 
some  thought  that  a  little  skillful  interpretation  and  expla- 
nation might  put  all  in  a  satisfactory  light ;  some  denied 
the  right  of  presbytery  to  investigate  the  doctrinal  views  of 
a  minister  belonging  to  another  body ;  and  some  urged, 
chiefly,  that  Mr.  Barnes  had  the  confidence  of  many  ex- 
cellent men,  and  was  an  exemplary  christian  and  successful 
preacher  of  the  gospel.  As  far  as  possible,  the  majority 
avoided  direct  doctrinal  discussion.  The  alarm  was  sounded, 
that  the  First  Church,  if  denied  its  request,  would  secede, 
or  at  least  would  no  longer  contribute  to  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, of  which  Dr.  Green  was  President,  and  one  of  his 
earnest  coadjutors,  the  Rev.  Joshua  T.  Russell,  General 
Agent. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
convened,  in  special  session,  "for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  reception  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes,  and  to  do  what  might 
be  deemed  proper  in  his  installation."  At  this  meeting. 
Dr.  Ely,  though  one  of  Mr.  Barnes's  friends,  moved  that  an 
opportunity  should  be  given  to  ask  of  him  such  explanations 
of  his  doctrinal  views  as  any  of  the  members  might  deem 
necessary  ;  but  his  miotion,  by  a  vote  of  eighteen  to  twenty, 
was  negatived,  on  the  grounds,  variously  taken  by  the  ma- 
jority, that  the  applicant's  orthodoxy  had  been  already 
sufficiently  discussed  and  established,  and  that  his  certificate 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabeth  Town  was  final.  Doubt- 
less the  majority  had  a  right  to  rule  as  to  this  matter,  and 
to  receive  Mr.  Barnes  without  examination,  as  they  did 
then  by  a  vote  of  thirty  to  sixteen.  But  at  once  charges 
of  error  were  tabled  against  him  as  a  bar  to  his  installation. 
The  moderator,  however,  decided  that  this  was  a  matter  not 
within  the  scope  of  the  special  call  upon  which  the  Presby- 
tery had  convened,  his  decision,  though  afterwards  admitted 
by  all  to  have  been  clearly  wrong,  was  sustained,  and  Mr. 
Barnes  was  installed. 

The  minority  complained  to  the  Synod  of  Pliiladelphia, 
which  condemned  the  Presbytery  for   "not  allowing   the 


1830.]  GATHERIXG    CLOUDS.  157 

examination  of  Mr.  Barnes  in  connexion  with  his  printed 
sermon,  previously  to  his  reception  as  a  member  of  presby- 
tery, and  especially  before  his  installation  as  pastor ;  and 
ordered  that  judicatory  "to  hear  and  decide  "  upon  the 
complainants'  ''objections  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  sermons 
of  Mr.  Barnes,  and  to  take  such  order  on  the  whole  subject 
as  "  was  "  required  by  a  regard  to  the  purity  of  the  Church, 
and  its  acknowledged  doctrines  and  order."  Unhappily 
this  decision  did  not  single  out  and  condemn  the  only  act 
of  presbytery  which  had  been  illegal — the  refusal  to  enter- 
tain the  charo;es  tabled  ao;ainst  Mr.  Barnes. 

o  ... 

In  obedience  to  the  injunction  of  Synod,  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  in  which,  meantime,  the  minority  had  be- 
come the  majority,  entered  upon  an  examination  of  Mr. 
Barnes's  sermon ;  and  a  minute  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Green, 
exhibiting  its  errors,  was,  after  full  discussion,  adopted. 
The  closing  paragraph  of  this  paper  gives  a  general  idea  of 
the  whole  proceeding. 

"The  Presbytery  express  their  deep  regret,  that  Mr.  Barnes 
should  have  preached  and  published  a  discourse  so  highly  ob- 
jectionable, and  so  manifestly,  in  some  of  its  leading  points, 
opposed  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Cate- 
chisms of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  they  earnestly  recommend 
to  Mr.  Barnes,  to  reconsider  and  renounce  the  erroneous  matter 
contained  in  his  printed  sermon,  as  specified  in  the  foregoing 
decisions  of  Presbytery ;  and  with  a  view  to  afford  time  to  Mr. 
Barnes  for  reflection  and  reconsideration,  in  reference  to  the 
errors  of  his  sermon,  and  for  opportunity  for  such  of  the  breth- 
ren as  may  choose  to  converse  freely  with  him  on  the  subject, 
the  Presbytery  do  suspend  their  final  decision  on  the  case,  until 
the  next  stated  meeting." 

A  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Green  was  chairman,  was 
afterwads  appointed  to  communicate  this  judgment  to  Mr. 
Barnes,  and  to  "converse  with  him  freely  and  aftectionately," 
"  in  the  hope  and  expectation  that  the  interview  "  would 
"result  in  removing  or  diminishing  the  difficulties "  that 
had  arisen.  Mr.  Barnes,  taking  the  ground,  that  the 
whole  proceeding  was  unconstitutional,  declined  hearing 
the  committee,  as  a  committee,  though  he  received  its 
members  courteously,  and  conversed  with  them.  The 
Presbytery  then  referred  the  whole  case  for  adjudication, 
and  the   minority  complained  of  what  had   been   done,  to 

14* 


158  QUIET   YEARS.  [cil.  28.  4. 

the  General  Assembly.  Here  the  matter  rested  from  the 
beginning  of  December  until  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly 
in  May,  1831. 

It  would  seem  to  be  perfectly  clear,  and  the  principle 
has  been  again  and  again  asserted  by  the  highest  authority 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  its  judicatories,  while 
empowered  to  try  and  condemn  persons  chargeable  with 
error,  may  also  judge,  abstractly,  of  opinions  in  any  way 
propagated.  The  form  of  Government  gives  expressly  the 
right  "  to  resolve  questions  of  doctrine  or  discipline  seri- 
ously and  seasonably  proposed,"  and  "to  condemn  erro- 
neous opinions  which  injure  the  purity  and  peace  of  the 
Church."^  But,  in  condemning  opinions,  without  trying 
their  author  or  propagator,  must  it  not  be  done  in  a  wholly 
abstract  way  ?  Mr.  Barnes,  undoubtedly,  might  have  been 
subjected  to  regular  process,  and,  if  proved  to  be  in  error, 
dealt  with  accordingly.  But  could  he  be,  without  personal 
process,  condemned  in  loose  connexion  with  the  condemna- 
tion of  his  discourse  ?  Was  it  lawful,  in  such  a  proceeding, 
to  involve  him  personally  at  all  in  the  decision  ?  Had  the 
Presbytery  any  right  even  to  decide  that  Mr.  Barnes  was  the 
author  of  the  sermon  before  them  ? — any  right  to  call  upon 
him,  as  if  convicted  of  error,  to  recant?  The  judgment  of 
the  majority,  so  far  as  it  took  a  personal  direction,  was 
plainly  unconstitutional." 

^  Chap.  X.,  8. 

2  The  General  AssembW  of  ISTO,  in  condemning  a  book,  carefully  abstained 
from  involving  the  writer  in  their  sentence;  designating  the  work  only  as  one 
"  entitled  "  The  Gospel  Plan,"  of  which  William  C.  Davis  is  stated  in  the  title 
page  to  be  the  author."  This  is  the  clearest,  most  decisive  precedent  on  record, 
and  is  so  manifestly  in  accordance  with  right  principle,  that  nothing  ought  to 
avail  to  cast  doubt  upon  it,  or  set  it  aside. 

The  errors  alleged  to  be  contained  in  the  sermon  were  chiefly  the  follow- 
ing : — 1.  A  denial  of  the  impntaiinn  of  Adam's  first  sin  : — "  The  notion  of  im- 
puting sin  is  an  invention  of  modern  times."  (p.  7.) — "  Christianity  does  not 
charge  on  men  crimes  of  which  they  are  not  guilty.  It  does  not  say,  as  I 
suppose,  that  the  sinner  is  held  to  be  personally  answerable  for  the  transgres- 
sions of  Adam  or  of  any  other  man  -••  -••■  Such  a  charge  *  *  would  be  most 
clearly  unjust."  (p.  6.) — "Neither  the  facts,  nor  any  proper  inference  from 
the  facts,  affirm,  that  I  am,  in  either  case,  personally  responsible  for  what 
another  man  did  before  I  had  an  existence."  (p.  7.) — "  Christianity  affirms 
the  fact,  that  in  connexion  with  the  sin  of  Adam,  or  as  a  result,  all  moral 
agents  will  sin,  and  sinning  will  die."  "  The  drunkard  commonly  secures,  as 
a  result,  the  fact  that  his  family  will  be  beggared,  illiterate,  perhaps  profane 
or  intemperate.  Both  facts  are  evidently  to  be  explained  on  the  same  princi- 
ple as  a  part  of  moral  government."  (p.  7.) — 2.  The  maintenance  of  the  sin- 
ner's plenari/ ability  to  fulfill  all  God's  requirements: — "Christianity  *  * 
does  not  say,  as  I  suppose,     *     *     that  God  has  given  a  law  which  man  has 


1830.]       LETTERS  UPON  THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY.  1.S9 

The  summer  of  1830  brought  with  it  severe  affliction. 
Mrs.  Breckinridge  had  come  with  her  three  children,  to 
spend  a  few  weeks  at  "home,"  when  one  of  her  brothers 
was  brought  from  boarding-school  with  the  scarlet  fever. 
The  disease  spread  in  the  family ;  several  suffered  from  it 
more  or  less ;  in  one  case  it  proved  fatal.  Elizabeth 
Breckinridge,  the  oldest  child,  was  taken  down,  and  soon 
passed  away,  but  not  without  giving  evidence,  though  but 
six  years  old,  of  an  intelligent  trust  in  Jesus  as  her 
Saviour. 

5.     Letters  upon  the  Christian  Ministry. 

In  the  year  1829,  John  Esten  Cooke,  M.D.,  of  Ken- 
tucky, left  the  Methodist  E.  Church,  of  which  he  had  been 
for  eighteen  ^^ears  a  devoted  and  active  member,  and 
joined,  "upon  convincement,"  the  Protestant  Episcopa- 
lians. This  was,  of  course,  to  him  a  very  important  event ; 
and  he  concluded  that  a  "  decent  respect"  for  the  opinion 
of  those  whom  he  had  left,  "  as  well  as  a  proper  regard  for 
his  own  character  for  consistency  and  uprightness,"  ren- 
dered "it  not  improper  that  he  should  state   the  reasons 

no  power  to  obey.  *  *  Such  a  requirement  would  be  most  clearh^  unjust." 
(p.  6.) — "  It  is  not  to  any  want  of  physical  strength,  that  this  rejection  [of  the 
gospel]  is  owing,  for  men  have  power  enough  in  themselves  to  hate  both  God 
and  their  fellow-men,  and  it  requires  less  physical  power  to  love  God  than  to 
hate  him.*'  (p.  14.) — On  these  subjects  Mr.  Barnes,  it  was  inferred,  held  sub- 
stantially the  views  of  Dr.  Taylor. — 3.  The  denial  of  a  limited  atonement: — 
"  This  atonement  was  for  all  men.  It  was  an  offering  made  for  the  race.  It 
had  not  respect  so  much  to  individuals,  as  to  the  law  and  perfections  of  God. 
It  was  an  opening  of  the  way  of  pardon,  a  making  forgiveness  consif^tent,  a 
preserving  of  truth,  a  magnifying  of  the  law,  and  had  no  particular  reference 
to  any  class  of  men."  (p.  11.) — "  The  atonement,  of  itself,  secured  the  salva- 
tion of  no  one."  (lb.) — 4.  Mr.  Barnes  openly  declared  his  self-absolution 
from  all  fealty  to  the  Confession  of  Faith: — **  It  is  not  denied  that  this  lan- 
guage varies  from  the  statements  which  are  often  made  on  this  subject,  and 
from  the  opinion  which  has  been  entertained  by  man3%  And  it  is  admitted 
that  it  does  not  accord  with  that  used  on  the  same  subject  in  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  other  standards  of  doctrine."  (p.  6.) — "  The  great  principle  on 
which  the  author  suj^poses  the  truths  of  religion  are  to  be  preached,  and  on 
which  he  endeavors  to  act,  is,  that  the  Bible  is  to  be  interpreted  by  all  the 
honest  helps  within  the  reach  of  the  preacher,  and  then  proclaimed  as  it  is,  let 
it  lead  where  it  will,  within,  or  without  the  circumference  of  any  arrangement 
of  doctrines.  He  is  supposed  to  be  responsible  not  at  all  for  its  impinging  on 
any  theological  system ;  nor  is  he  to  be  cramped  by  any  frame-work  of  faith 
that  has  been  reared  around  the  Bible."  (]).  12.) — Some  seven  j-cars  before, 
he  had  solemnly  declared,  as  an  indispensable  condition  of  being  ordained  a 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  "  I  do  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the 
Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."     Form  of  Government,  Chap,  xiii.,  4. 


160  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  5. 

which  incUiced  him  to  make  the  change  ;"  which  according- 
ly he  did  in  an  octavo  volume  of  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
pages,  entitled  "An  Essay  on  the  Invalidity  of  Presbyte- 
rian Ordination,"  which  is  chiefly  an  attempt  to  answer 
Dr.  Miller's  Letters  on  the  Christian  Ministry.  Six 
weeks'  study  had  sufficed  to  convince  him  of  the  validity 
of  prelatical  claims,  and  eight  weeks'  to  prepare  him  to 
begin  to  write  in  their  defence :  the  book  mentioned  was 
the  result.  It  was  reviewed  by  the  Rev.  John  C.  Young, 
in  1830,  in  "  The  Presbyterian  Advocate,"  published,  as 
Dr.  Cook's  work  also  was,  at  Lexington.  The  reviewer 
remarks, 

"  AYe  have  read  some  of  Dr.  Cooke's  medical  Essays  with 
pleasure  and  profit.  As  far  as  our  limited  acquaintance  with 
works  of  a  similar  kind  would  enable  us  to  judge,  we  consid- 
ered them  the  productions  of  a  man  of  talents,  who  had  studied 
well  the  subjects  on  which  he  undertook  to  write.  We  cannot 
say  as  much  for  his  present  Essay.  A  man  may  be  a  very 
good  physician,  and  a  very  indifferent  theologian : — a  man. may 
write  very  well  on  subjects  with  which  he  has  been  conversant 
ail  his  life,  and  yet  write  very  crudely  on  one  which  he  has 
examined  but  six  lueeks  before  he  commenced  delivering  to  the 
world  his  views  upon  it. 

"We  have  found  in  this  essay  no  new  arguments  of  any  im- 
portance ;  and  we  have  seen  the  same  arguments  presented  by 
other  writers  in  a  more  lucid  and  systematic  order.  Indeed, 
after  the  "judicious  Hooker,"  the  laborious  Bingham,  the  in- 
genious Hammond,  the  zealous  Dodwell,  and"  the  learned 
Potter  have  brought  the  fruits  of  years  of  research  to  their 
task,  and  yet  have  failed  to  convince  the  world  of  the  divine 
RIGHT  OF  Episcopacy;  we  would  scarcely  expect  that  this 
miglitij  work  would  be  accomplished  by  a  man  who  could  bring 
to  the  attempt  no  critical  skill  in  the  original  languages  of 
scripture,  no  deep  acquaintance  with  ecclesiastical  antiquities, 
no  long  and  laborious  investigation  of  the  controversy, — 
nothing,  in  short,  which  would  enable  him  to  throw  any  new 
light  on  a  subject,  which  had  been  examined  and  exhibited  in 
all  its  bearings,  by  the  ablest  men  who  have  ever  worn  the 
Episcopal  Mitre. — A  writer,  under  such  circumstances,  must  be 
contented  to  copy,  in  a  great  measure,  the  facts  and  reasonings 
of  those  who  have  preceded  him.  And  this  we,  accordingly, 
find  to  be  the  case  in  the  present  instance."^ 

"  No  man  lays  claim  to  infallibility.     When  therefore  any 

ip.  49, 


1830.]      LETTERS  UPON  THE  CHRISTIAN  ^MINISTRY.  IGl 

man  is  charged,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  with  dishonesty 
or  disingenuousness,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  treat  the  charge  as 
an  absurdity.  Still,  if  the  accused  enjoy  a  high  reputation  for 
piety,  integrity  and  candour,  such  a  charge  bears  on  its  front 
the  marks  of  improbability  and  injustice,  and,  generally,  we  do 
not  consider  it  worth  the  trouble  of  an  investigation.  Acting  on 
this  principle,  we,  for  a  considerable  time,  treated  with  neglect 
the  charge  of  disingenuousness  and  misrepresentation  which  has 
been  virtually  advanced  against  Dr.  Miller  in  an  Essay  entitled 
"  The  Invalidity  of  Presbyterian  Ordination.  By  John  Esten 
Cooke,  M.D."  We  have  long  known  Dr.  M.,  and  known  him 
to  have  always  sustained  a  character  distinguished  for  learning, 
piety,  amiableness  and  candour.  There  are  few  men  with 
whom  we  have  met,  whom  we  would  not  as  soon  believe  to  be 
guilty  of  intentional  unfairness  as  Dr.  M.  We  were  led,  how- 
ever, to  an  examination  of  the  attack  upon  the  character  of  a 
man,  for  whom  we  entertain  so  high  a  respect,  by  the  request  of 
others ;  and  the  result  of  our  examination  has  been  to  furnish 
us  with  further  proof  of  a  fact,  which  considerable  acquaint- 
ance with  controversial  writings  had  previously  taught  us,  that 
an  honest  and  honourable  man  may  grievously  mistake  and 
misstate  another's  arguments. 

"  Dr.  Cooke  honestly  thinks  and  endeavours  to  show,  that 
Dr.  M.  mistakes  and  misstates  the  views  of  the  writers  he  pro- 
fesses to  quote.  We,  on  the  other  hand,  think  that  Dr.  Cooke 
mistakes  and  misstates  the  arguments  of  Dr.  M. ;  and  this  we 
ynW  attempt  briofly  to  show."^ 

The  charges  made  by  Dr.  Cooke  and  others  amounted, 
as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  simply  to  this — that  Dr.  Miller, 
in  professedly  quoting  what  bore  upon  one  point,  which  he 
had  immediately  in  hand,  did  not  also  quote  continuously 
what  they  thought  was  strongly  in  their  favor,  but  upon 
another  point;  and  that,  with  the  best  critics  upon  the 
Letters  of  Ignatius,  he  considered  them  an  authority  on 
some  subjects,  but  not  on  behalf  of  Prelacy,  for  the  sup- 
port of  which  he  believed  them  to  have  been  corrupted. 

The  chief  result  of  this  attack,  and  others,  so  far  as  Dr. 
Miller  was  concerned,  was  that,  in  the  month  of  October, 
1830,  he  published  a  second  edition — both  volumes,  as  first 
and  second  parts,  in  one — of  his  letters,  of  more  than 
twenty  years  before,  upon  the  Christian  Ministry.^     Speak- 

1  p.  145. 

2  "Letters  concerning  the  Constitution  and  Order  of  the  Christian  Ministry  : 
addressed  to  the  Members  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches   in    the    City  of  New 


162  QUIET    YEARS.  [ciI.  28.  5. 

ing,  in  the  ''Preliminary  Letter,"  of  the  Original  volumes, 
he  says, 

"  They  have  both  been  out  of  print  for  a  number  of  years ; 
and  although  frequent  inquiry  has  been  made  for  them,  it  was 
not  supposed,  until  lately,  that  the  demand  was  sufficient  to 
warrant  a  second  edition.  Recent  circumstances,  however, 
have  led  to  the  belief  that  a  new  and  corrected  impression 
would  be  seasonable,  and  not  unacceptable  to  the  friends  of 
primitive  truth  and  order." 

Again  he  remarks,  "  as  the  original  publication  of  the  follow- 
ing Letters  was  prompted  by  unprovoked  and  violent  attacks, 
and  was  made  merely  in  self-defence;  so  their  appearance  in 
this  new  form  is  occasioned  by  a  similar  cause.  After  reposing 
in  quietness  for  more  than  twenty  years,  they  have  been,  re- 
cently, again  called  up  to  public  view,  and  subjected  to  attacks 
marked  by  great  vehemence  and  confidence.  Of  these  attacks, 
it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  take  any  further  notice  than  to 
say,  that  their  violence  and  their  offensive  imputations  have 
created  a  new  demand  for  the  work,  and  thus  afforded  an  op- 
portunity of  presenting  it  again  to  the  public  in  a  more  con- 
venient form.  This  is  the  only  reply  that  I  at  present  intend 
to  give  to  any  recent  assailant.  And  I  hope  that  every  candid 
reader,  after  attentive  consideration,  will  be  of  the  opinion  that 
more  was  not  called  for. 

"  In  preparing  the  work  for  a  second  edition,  I  have  revised 
the  whole  with  as  much  care  as  my  circumstances  allowed. 
And,  although  the  further  reading  and  reflection  of  twenty  years 
have  enabled  me  to  detect  some  mistakes,  and  to  reconsider  and 
modify  the  statements  in  a  few  places ; — yet  I  can  truly  say, 
that  the  amount  of  my  modification  has  generally  been,  to  urge 
my  former  reasonings  with  new  confidence;  to  array  my  old 
authorities  with  additional,  instead  of  diminished  force;  and, 
in  general,  to  manifest  what  I  have  really  felt, — a  greatly  aug- 
mented assurance  of  the  soundness  of  my  original  conclusions. 

"  With  regard  to  my  quotations  from  the  fathers  and  other 
writers,  I  think  it  proper  to  say,  once  for  all,  that  I  have  en- 
deavored to  make  them  with  all  the  fidelity  of  which  I  am 
capable.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  such  matters  need  not 
be  reminded,  that,  frequently,  out  of  a  folio  page,  not  more  than 
half  a  dozen  lines  have  any  direct  bearing  on  the  purpose  of 
the  extracts ;  and  that,  if  these  are  exhibited  without  any  uncan- 
did  wresting  from  their  connection,  the  real  spirit  of  the  author 

York.  To  wbicli  is  prefixed  a  Letter  on  the  Present  Aspect  and  Bearing  of 
the  Episcopal  Controversy.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiasti- 
cal History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton, 
New  Jersey.     Second  Edition.     Philadelphia;  1830."     8vo.     Pp.  liii  and  485. 


1830.]       LETTERS  UPON  TUE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY.  163 

is  set  forth  with  sufficient  accuracy.  If,  in  any  instance,  in 
the  following  pages,  an  ofi'ence  has  been  committed  against 
this  sound  principle,  it  has  not  been  done  intentionaUy.  It  is, 
indeed,  as  common  as  it  is  easy,  when  an  adversary  is  incom- 
moded by  a  quotation  in  the  way  of  authority,  to  complain  of 
it  as  unfaithfully  made,  or  as  disingenuously  separated  from  its 
proper  connection.  But  of  the  truth  of  such  complaints  every 
intelligent  reader  must  judge  for  himself.  *  "^ 

"  Nothing,  my  Christian  friends,  is  further  from  my  inten- 
tion, in  anything  which  you  will  find  in  the  following  pages, 
than  to  attack  the  Episcopal  church.  I  have  no  hostility  to 
that  denomination  of  Christians.  '"-  *  I  have  not  the  least 
doubt,  indeed,  that  Prelacy  is  an  unscriptural  error ;  an  un- 
warranted innovation  on  apostolic  simplicity :  but  such  an  in- 
novation as  a  man  may  adopt  with  zeal,  and  yet  be  an  excellent 
Christian,  and  an  heir  of  eternal  blessedness.  To  all  such 
Episcopalians  as  Whitefield  and  Rervey  in  former  timt^s, 
and  as  Newton,  Scott,  and  others  of  similar  stamp  in  later  pe- 
riods, I  can  cordially  "bid  God  speed,"  and  sincerely  rejoice  in 
their  success.  Were  the  world  filled  with  such  men,  I,  for  one, 
should  be  ready  to  say:  Let  their  spirit  reign  from  the  rising  to 
the  setting  sun  I  ^'  * 

"  But  when  Episcopalians  belong  to  that  part  of  their  de- 
nomination— a  very  small  part,  as  I  hope  and  trust— who  not 
only  believe  that  Prelacy  is  a  divine  institution,  but  that  every 
other  form  of  ecclesiastical  government  must  be  rejected  as  re- 
bellion against  God:  when  they  persuade  themselves,  not  only 
that  theliuman  invention  which  they  embrace  is  truth,_but 
that  nothing  else  can  be  truth ;  that  where  there  is  no  ministry 
episcopally  ordained,  there  is  no  church  at  all,  no  ministry,  no^ 
valid  ordinances,  no  people  in  covenant  with  God,  and,  of 
course,  no  warranted  hope  of  divine  mercy  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ:  when,  as  a  natural  and  necessary  consequence  of 
these  opinions,  they  consider  it  as  unlawful  to  indulge  in  any 
religious  intercourse  with  non-Episcopalians ;  and  regard  it  as 
an  actof  fidelity  to  Christ  to  stand  aloof  from  all  who  do  not 
belong  to  their  own  body,  however  pious  their  spirit  and  exem- 
plary °their  lives;  nay, however  manifestly,, in  all  other  respects, 
they  may  bear  his  image,  and  do  his  will :  when  they  think 
it  incumbent  upon  them  to  decline  every  act  which  would 
imply  acknowledging  as  brethren  in  Christ  the  most  devout 
and  heavenly-minded  Christians  who  do  not  stand  in  their 
particular  line  of  fancied  ecclesiastical  genealogy;  and  to 
refuse  all  communion  and  co  operation  with  them,  even  in  the 
most  hallowed  work  of  Christian  benevolence:  and,  further, 
when  they  think  it  a  duty  to  take  every  opportunity,  in  public 


164  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  6. 

and  ^  private,  to  denounce  non-Episcopalians  as  aliens  from 
Christ,  and  call  upon  them  to  renounce  their  principles,  and 
attach  themselves  to  their  sect,  under  the  heaviest  penalties:  I 
say,  when  Episcopalians  take  this  ground,  it  is  difficult  to  tell 
wherein  their  principle  differs  from  the  corresponding  principle 
of  the  Papists."^ 

6.  Religious  Fasting. 

In  "The  National  Preacher"  for  March,  1831,  appeared 
two  sermons  on  Fasting^  from  Dr.  Miller's  pen.  On  this 
subject  he  held  opinions,  and  adopted  a  practice,  which  are 
becoming  more  and  more  unpopular  at  the  present  day. 
The  revulsion  produced  by  Romish  superstitions,  and 
strengthened  by  a  natural  aversion  to  abstinence  from  food 
and  other  pleasurable  indulgences,  has  carried  many  over 
to  the  extreme,  as  Dr.  Miller  deemed  it,  of  condemning 
literal  fasts  altogether,  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  New 
Testament  worship.  And  not  a  few  persons,  who  admit 
the  duty  of  fasting,  require  such  special  occasion  for  it,  as 
to  render  the  admission  of  little  practical  effect.  The  views 
presented  in  these  sermons  are  those  which  were  much  more 
prevalent  half  a  century  ago,  than  they  are  at  present. 
The  preacher  says, 

"It  is  not  every  Hnd  of  abstinence  that  constitutes  a  r ell gious 
fast."  "The  Christian,  as  such,  refrains  from  choice,  denying 
his  appetite  from  religious  principle,  and  with  a  view  to  spiritual 
benefit.  Now,  when  it  is  affirmed  that  occasional  fasting  in 
this  sense,  and  with  this  view,  is  a  Christian  duty,  it  is  not  in- 
tended to  be  maintained  that  it  is  one  of  those  stated  duties 
which  all  are  bound  to  attend  upon  at  certain  fixed  periods, 
whatever  may  be  their  situation,  or  the  aspect  of  Providence 
towards  them.  There  is  no  precept  in  the  word  of  God  which 
enjoins  the  observance  of  a  particular  number  of  fast  days  in 
each  year.  It  is  to  be  considered  as  an  occasional,  or,  perhaps, 
more  properly  speaking,  a  special  duty,  which,  like  seasons  of 
special  prayer,  ought  to  be  regulated,  as  to  its  frequency  and 
manner  of  observance,  by  the  circumstances  in  which  we  are 
placed.  But,  although  the  times  and  seasons  of  religious  fast- 
ing be  left,  as  they  obviously  must  be,  to  the  judgment  and  the 
conscience  of  each  individual,  it  may  be  confidently  affirmed 

1  Pp.  vi-x. 

2  "  The  Duty,  the  Benefits,  and  the  Proper  Method  of  Religious  Fasting.  By 
Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Princeton,  New  Jcrsev.  New  York:  1831."— Daniel  ix. 
3.— 8vo.     Pp.  16. 


1831.]  EELIGIOUS   FASTING.  165 

that  it  is  a  divine  ixstitutiox  ;  that  it  is  a  duty  on  which 

ALL  CHRISTIANS  ARE    BOUND,  at  PROPER  SEASONS,  tO  attend."^ 

For  this  opinion  Dr.  Miller  claims  full  support  from  the  light 
of  nature,  Scriptural  examples,  and  direct  and  indirect  Scrip- 
tural precepts. 

"In  estimating  the  benefits  of  religious  fasting,"  he  says,  "we 
ascribe  to  it  no  mystical  charm,  no  sanctifying  power.  We 
have  no  idea  that  there  is  any  merit  in  macerating  and  enfeeb- 
ling the  body ;  nor  can  we  regard  with  any  other  sentiment 
than  that  of  abhorrence,  the  doctrine  that  abstaining  from  par- 
ticular kinds  of  food  ever  did  or  can  make  expiation  for  sin,  or 
serve  in  any  form,  as  the  price  of  our  acceptance  with  God." 
The  benefits  which  he  then  mentions  are  (1)  the  "natural  and 
significant  expression  of  our  penitence  for  sin  "  ;  (2)  "  keeping 
under  the  body  and  bringing  it  into  subjection"  ;  (3)  rendering 
"the  mind  more  active,  clear  and  vigorous"  ;  (4)  that  fasting, 
well  conducted,  "ministers  to  the  bodily  health";  and  (5) 
may  be  made  "systematically  subservient  to  the  purposes  of 
charity.'^ 

"  The  frequency  with  which  every  individual  Christian  ought 
to  fast,  and  the  extent  to  which  he  ought  to  carry  his  abstinence, 
on  each  occasion,  are  questions  concerning  which  no  definite 
rule  can  be  laid  down."  "The  whole  subject  is  left,  as  the  sub- 
ject of  almsgiving  is  left,  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God."  "That  degree  of  abstinence  which  is  salutary  and 
not  uncomfortable  to  one,  would  be  deeply  injurious  as  well  as 
painful  to  another.  The  great  end  of  the  duty  is  to  be  regarded. 
God  "  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice."  "  It  is  manifest  that 
the  tendency  in  general  is  to  deficiency  rather  than  excess  in  this 
important  duty.  For  one  who  injures  himself  by  the  excessive 
frequency  or  protraction  of  his  seasons  of  abstinence,  thousands, 
it  is  probable,  either  wholly  neglect  this  self-denying  duty,  or 
perform  it  in  a  most  superficial  and  inadequate  manner."  "  The 
abstinence  in  religious  fasting  may  be  either  total  or  partial. 
When  it  is  continued  for  a  single  day  only,  it  ought  in  many 
cases  to  be  total."  "But  when  the  fast  is  continued  through 
several  successive  days, — as  it  sometimes  ought  to  be,  in  a  great 
physical  or  moral  crisis  of  life, — then,  it  is  obvious,  the  absti- 
nence should  be  only  partial;  that  is,  aliment  ought  to  be 
sparingly  taken,  not  to  gratify  appetite,  but  merely  to  sustain 
nature.  The  proj)het  Daniel,  in  a  period  of  protracted,  pious 
humiliation,  tells  us,  that  he  "ate  no  pleasant  bread,  neither 
came  flesh  nor  wine  into  his  mouth."  Kor  let  any  one  imagine 
that  it  is  not  his  duty  to  fiist,  because  the  abstinence  of  a  single 

IP.  146.  2  Pp.  150-152. 

Vol.  11—15. 


166  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  6. 

day,  and  even  from  a  single  meal,  in  some  degree  incommodes 
his  feelings.  This  is  no  valid  objection  to  the  duty.  In  fact, 
as  you  have  heard,  one  great  design  of  the  privation  is  to  "af- 
flict the  soul,"  to  humble  us  under  a  sense  of  our  weakness  and 
dependence,  and  to  remind  us,  by  a  feeling  of  want,  of  the  pur- 
pose for  which  we  submit  to  the  privation.  If  no  such  feeling 
were  induced,  an  important  purpose  of  the  exercise  would  be 
defeated.  Thousands  were  fully  persuaded,  a  few  years  ago, 
that  total  abstinence  from  that  fell  destroyer,  ardent  spirit,  would 
weaken  their  bodies  and  injure  their  health.  But  no  man  ever 
honestly  made  the  experiment,  without  finding  that  his  fears 
had  all  been  delusive.  No  less  delusive,  be  assured,  is  the  plea, 
that  you  cannot  comply,  in  an  enlightened  manner  with  the 
Christian  duty  of  fasting,  without  injury,  either  physical  or 
moral.  To  those  who  think  otherwise,  I  would  say — Have  you 
ever  fairly  made  the  tkial  ?  If  you  think  you  have,  make 
IT  AGAIN,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  with  humble  prayer  for  di- 
vine direction.  And  imaghie  not  that  a  mere  feeling  of  empti- 
ness, or  even  of  importunate  hunger,  must  necessarily  mark  the 
approach  of  mischief  So  far  from  this,  they  are  feelings  which 
you  often  need,  for  your  physical  as  well  as  moral  benefit ;  and 
no  injury  will  be  likely  to  flow  from  them,  when  carried  to  a 
2oroper  length,  unless  unguardedly  followed  by  an  excessive  in- 
didgence  oj  appetitey^ 

"Seasons  of  devout  fasting  ought,  undoubtedly,  to  be  ob- 
served by  INDIVIDUALS,  in  private,  with  a  special  reference  to 
their  own  personal  sins,  wants,  and  trials ;  by  families,  which 
have  often  much  reason,  as  such,  for  special  humiliation  and 
prayer ;  by  particular  churches,  whose  circumstances  are 
frequently  such  as  to  call  for  seasons  of  peculiar  mourning, 
penitence  and  supplication;  by  whole  denominations  of 
CHRISTIANS,  who  havc  very  often  occasion  to  humble  themselves 
before  God  on  account  of  the  absence  of  his  Spirit,  and  the 
prevalence  of  some  great  evils  in  the  midst  of  them ;  and, 
finally,  by  nations,  when  sufiering  under  the  righteous  dis- 
pleasure of  God,  or  Avhen  sensible  that,  for  their  sins,  they  are 
exposed  to  his  heavy  judgments.'"^ 

As  to  the  method,  Dr.  Miller  argues,  (1)  that  a  fast  is  in 
vain,  ''unless  the  heart  be  sincerely  engaged  in  the  ser- 
vice" ;  (2)  that  ^'a  real  abstinence  from  aliment  is  essen- 
tial to  the  proper  and  acceptable  performance  of  the  duty" 
— that  "fasting  in  spirit"  and  "abstinence  from  sin"  are 
mere  evasions  ;  (3)  that  during  a  fast,  we  should  retire,  "as 

iPp.  153,  154.  2  p.  154. 


1831.]  CORRESPOXDEXCE.  167 

mucli  as  possible,  from  the  world,  shut  out  its  illusions, 
and  endeavor  to  break  its  hold  of  our  hearts"  ;  (4)  that  the 
time  should  "be  devoted  to  a  deep  and  heartfelt  recollec- 
tion of  our  sins,  and  unfeigned  repentance  for  them"  ;  (5) 
that  a  fast  should  "ever  be  followed  bj  genuine  reforma- 
tion" ;  (6)  that  "every  thing  like  ostentation,  or  self- 
righteousness,  should  be  put  far  from  us";  and  (7)  that 
Christian  fasting  "ought  ever  to  be  accompanied  with  more 
or  less  of  sympathy  and  benevolence  to  the  destitute"; 
and  he  concludes,  that,  although  the  people  of  God  have 
ow  as  mich  need  of  fasting  as  they  ever  had,  it  is  ^'an 
nnfashionable  dutv,"  "far  too  much  neglected."^ 

7.       CORRESPOXDEXCE. 

In  1830,  Dr.  Miller,  having  occasion  to  write  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Mitchell,  of  Anderston,  Scotland,  had  mentioned  the 
great  need  of  the  Seminary  library,  and  queried  whether,  at 
Dr.  Mitchell's  susisrestion,  some  of  the  livins;  authors  of  Scot- 
land — Dr.  Chalmers  and  others — would  not  present  to  the 
institution  copies  of  their  works.  On  the  28th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1831,  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Chalmers  a  letter  of  acknow- 
ledo-ment,  from  which  the  followinor  extract  is  made  : — 

*  Accordingly,  last  autumn,  I  received  a  communication  from 
Dr.  Mitchell,  informing  me  that  you  had  been  good  enough  to 
present  a  complete  copy  of  your  publications ;  and  the  books 
themselves  came  to  hand  a  short  time  afterwards.  When  they  ar- 
rived, I  found,  from  an  inscription  on  the  blank  leaf  of  each  vol- 
ume, that  they  were  'pre^enU  to  me.  Perhaps  this  was  a  mistake 
of  your  bookseller.  But,  whether  the  fact  be  so,  or  not,  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  of  giving  the  books  the  destination  originally 
intended  by  myself;  and  have,  accordingly,  presented  them,  in 
your  name,  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  our  Seminary  for  the 
public  library.  They  were  very  gratefully  received ;  a  ,vote  of 
thanks  for  them  was  passed  ;  and  I  was  directed  to  communi- 
cate the  fact  to  you.  It  is  with  much  pleasure  that  I  now  dis- 
charge the  commission.  *  'i'  I  hope  what  I  have  done  in 
this  matter  will  not  be  disapproved  by  you.' 

Dr.  Miller  writes  to  one  of  his  daughters,  in  Baltimore, 
on  the  19th  of  March,  1831, 

*  About  six  weeks  ago,  one  afternoon,  a  grave  looking,  thick- 
set, and  rather  short  old   gentleman,  apparently  about  sixty 

1  Pp.  154-160. 


168  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28. 7. 

five  or  sixty-seven,  called  on  me  and  told  me  that  his  name 
was  Joseph  G ;  that  he  belonged  to  the  Methodist  connec- 
tion ;  that  he  had  once  been  a  travelling  preacher  among  them, 
and  was  now,  as  I  understood  him,  a  local  preacher ;  that  he 
resided  in  Baltimore ;  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Breckinridge ;  that  he  first  knew  him  in  Richmond,  Va.,  etc., 
etc. ;  that  he  had  lost  his  pocket  book  and  was  without  money ; 
earnestly  begged  the  loan  of  five  dollars  to  carry  him  on  to 
New  York ;  said  he  would  certainly  return  on  or  about  the 
15th  of  February  last,  when  he  would  faithfully  repay  the 
loan ;  and  added,  that  if  he  failed  of  doing  it,  I  might  write  to 
his  friend,  Mr.  Breckinridge,  and  denounce  him  as  an  impostor 
and  cheat.  I  lent  him  the  money,  but  have  heard  nothing  of 
him  since.  I  have  some  curiosity  to  know  whether  Mr.  Breck- 
inridge is  really  acquainted  with  such  a  man.     *     ^^     He  said 

he  belonged  to  the  family  of  the  G s,  in  Richmond,  and 

was  related  to  that  of  the  G s  in  Baltimore.  I  am  so  fre- 
quently applied  to  and  imposed  upon  in  the  same  way,  that  I 
feel  some  little  interest  in  knowing  whether  this  fellow  was  a 
deceiver  or  not.' 

Upon  the  envelope  of  the  original  draft  of  the  following 
letter,  which  Dr.  Miller  retained,  an  endorsement  says, 

'  The  inclosed  letter  was  directed  to  the  Honorable  Charles 
Ewing,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  who  resided 
at  Trenton,  and  was  one  of  the  most  esteemed  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  congregation  of  that  city.  He  was  a  man  of 
uncommonly  fine  talents,  of  the  purest  morals,  and  of  an  ex- 
ternal character  in  every  respect  like  that  of  an  eminent 
Christian.  Very  few  professors  of  religion  are  so  exemplary 
as  he  was  in  all  but  making  a  public  profession.  He  died  of 
cholera,  about  sixteen  months  after  the  transmission  of  this 
letter,  without  having  made  such  a  profession,  but  in  a  calm 
and  humble  hope.' 

'  My  very  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  April  3,  1831. 

^  '  I  hope  you  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  take  in  this 
address.  It  is  dictated  by  the  sincerest  respect,  and  the  most 
cordial  Christian  friendship.  When  I  saw  you  in  my  audience 
this  morning,  emotions  were  excited  in  my  bosom,  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  describe.  There  was  something  in  the 
nature  of  my  subject,  taken  in  connection  with  your  history 
and  character  in  reference  to  religion,  which  moved  me  so 
deeply,  that  I  felt  as  if  I  could  not  go  to  rest  with  a  good  con- 
science to-night,  until  I  had  expressed  to  you  on  paper  the  ful- 
ness of  a  heart  which  takes  a  warm  interest  in  your  welfare  for 
this  world  as  well  as  that  which  is  to  come. 


1831.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  169 

'  It  cannot  be  a  matter  of  surprize  to  you,  my  respected  Sir, 
that  your  friends  and  neighbours  regard  your  character  with 
the  highest  respect ;  that  the  members  of  the  congregation  with 
which  you  are  connected  look  upon  you  with  peculiar  and 
affectionate  interest;  that  many  of  them  cherish  a  hope  for 
you,  which,  perhaps,  you  do  not  for  yourself;  and  that  they 
all  lament,  that,  while  your  conduct  is  far  more  exemplary  than 
that  of  many  professors  of  religion,  you  have  not  seen  your  way 
clear  to  "  confess  Christ"  openly  and  decisively  before  men. 

'Allow  me,  my  dear  Sir,  with  the  profoundest  respect,  and 
the  sincerest  good-will,  to  ask,  Why  is  this  f  It  is  not,  I  am 
persuaded,  because  you  are  "  ashamed  of  Christ  and  of  his 
words."  I  rather  suppose  it  is  because  you  are  not  yet  satisfied 
that  you  are  a  cordial  friend  of  the  Saviour,  and  are  waiting 
until  you  can  gain  a  comfortable  hope  of  your  discipleship. 
This,  if  I  am  not  deceived  in  my  estimate,  has  been  the  state 
of  your  mind  for  years.  Still  you  do  not  decide.  Every  suc- 
cessive year  you  probably  anticipate  a  more  favourable  state  of 
things.  But  year  after  year  passes  without  any  decisive  step 
being  taken.  In  the  meanwhile  life  is  wearing  away ;  and  w'ho 
can  tell  but  that  it  may  terminate  w^hile  you  are  yet  uncertain, 
whether  you  belong  to  the  enemies  or  friends  of  the  Redeemer; 
before  you  have  fully  decided  whether  you  will  be  for  Chrst  or 
for  the  world  ? 

*  If  you  ask  me,  what  you  shall  do,  since  the  doubts  con  cern- 
ing  your  own  state,  which  have  hitherto  kept  you  from  a  sac- 
ramental table,  yet  remain,  and,  as  long  as  they  continue  to 
prevail,  mud  prevent  your  appearing  in  the  ranks  of  professing 
Christians  :  I  answer,  God  forbid  that  I  should  ever  recommend 
to  any  one  to  take  such  a  step  insincerely,  or  with  a  predomi- 
nant doubt  of  sincerity.  But  I  would  say,  act  in  this  case  just 
as  you  would  act  in  a  case,  in  which  the  temporal  welfare  and 
happiness  of  yourself  and  your  family  were  essentially  in- 
volved, in  some  unsettled  controversy,  which  it  was,  of  course, 
of  the  utmost  importance  you  should  adjust,  and  which  was 
becoming  worse  by  every  hour's  delay.  In  such  a  case,  I  am 
sure,  you  could  not  rest  satisfied  a  day,  or  an  hour,  until  the 
matter  was  settled.  Now%  I  should  say,  take  the  same  course 
in  reference  to  the  infinitely  more  momentous  subject  of  which 
I  am  speaking.  No  longer  "  halt  between  two  opinions." 
Bring  the  matter  to  a  distinct  and  solemn  crisis.  Set  apart  a 
day  for  special  prayer  and  humiliation,  accompanied  with  fast- 
ing— to  humble  yourself  before  God ;  and  importunately  to 
ask  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  shine  into  your  heart,  and  to  aid  you 
in  deciding  "  what  manner  of  spirit  you  are  of"     If  the  exer- 

10^- 


170  QUIET   YEARS.  [CH.  28.  7. 

cises  of  one  such  day  are  not  made  effectual,  by  the  divine 
blessing,  to  the  termination  of  your  doubts,  observe,  after  a 
little  interval,  another  and  another,  until  the  great  question  is 
decided.  Can  a  more  important  question  be  conceived  ?  Is  it 
■wise  to  postpone  for  a  day  its  decision,  when  the  thread  of  life 
is  so  brittle ;  and  when  all  your  relations  in  life  render  it  of 
unspeakable  imj^ortance  that  your  example  be,  henceforth,  as 
decisive  and  as  edifying  as  possible  ?  And,  although  it  be 
certain  that  no  effective  step  can  be  taken  in  religion  without 
divine  aid  ;  yet  it  is  equally  certain,  that  we  have  the  same 
encouragement  to  look  and  confidently  hope  for  that  aid,  in  the 
use  of  God's  prescribed  means,  as  we  have  to  anticipate  a  bless- 
ing on  industrious  efforts  to  promote  our  temporal  advantage. 

'  I  am  sensible,  my  dear  Sir,  that  it  may  appear  singular  for 
one  who  has  so  little  claim  as  I  have,  to  interpose  in  so  delicate 
and  solemn  a  concern  as  this,  which  must,  after  all,  be  left  between 
every  individual  and  his  God.  My  only  apology  must  be 
found  in  the  deep  interest  I  take  in  your  welfare  and  that  of 
your  family ;  in  my  strong  impression  of  the  great  good  you 
might  do,  if  your  whole  weight  were  openly  and  decisively 
thrown  into  the  scale  of  Christ ;  in  the  repeated  instances  which 
I  have  known  of  persons  bearing  a  character  not  unlike  your 
own,  at  last  leaving  the  world  without  coming  to  any  public 
decision  on  the  most  important  of  all  questions ;  and,  finally, 
in  the  obligation  which  I  feel  lying  upon  me,  as  an  aged  min- 
ister, near  the  end  of  his  course,  to  leave  no  effort  unattempted 
that  may  promise  even  the  possibility  of  doing  good.  Your 
j)astor  is  but  a  youth  ;^  and  although  he  never  dropped  a  hint 
in  my  hearing  respecting  any  special  address  to  you  on  the 
subject  of  this  letter;  yet  I  can  readily  conceive  that  he  would 
be  likely  to  feel  no  small  embarrassment  in  seeking  a  personal 
and  pointed  conversation  on  such  a  subject  with  one  so  much 
his  superior  in  age,  and  so  elevated  in  station.  At  my  time  of 
life,  when  all  opportunities  of  doing  good  to  my  fellow-men 
must  soon  be  over,  I  ought  to  be  done  Avith  such  embarrassment, 
and  to  be  ready  to  risk  something  for  the  sake  of  promoting  the 
best  interests  of  a  respected  friend. 

'  I  have  only  to  add,  my  dear  Sir,  that  this  communication 
has  not  been  prompted  by  any  human  being.  It  is  the  result 
entirely  of  the  emotions  which  arose  in  my  mind  on  seeing  you 
in  my  audience  this  morning,  and  listening  with  so  much  seri- 
ous attention,  while  I  was  lamenting  the  small  success  of  the 
Gospel  on  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men.     All  knowdedge  of  it  is 

1  The  Rev.  James  W.  Alexander— from  1843,  D.D. 


1831.]  THE    RULING    ELDERSHIP.  171 

confined  to  you,  myself,  and  our  God.     May  he  render  it  useful ! 
'  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  your  unfeigned 

*  and  respectful  friend, 

*  Samuel  Miller.' 
The  Rev.  James  W.  Alexander,  writing  under  date  of 
the  6th  of  August,  1832,  said, 

"I  returned  to  Princeton  last  night,  from  the  funeral  of  my 
principal  supporter  and  friend  in  Trenton,  Chief  Justice  Ewing. 
He  gave  a  decided  testimony  to  the  power  of  faith.  He  was 
not  only  one  of  the  most  temperate,  and  equable,  and  regular, 
but  one  of  the  halest  men  in  America.  You  may  imagine  the 
consternation.  He  died  of  cholera,  after  an  illness  of  twenty- 
three  hours."^ 

Again  he  said, 

"  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  a  subject  of  re- 
newing grace  long  before  his  last  illness  in  1832.  During  this 
brief  period  of  suffering,  he  made  a  distinct  and  touching  avowal 
of  his  faith  in  Christ."^ 

7.  The  Ruling  Eldership. 
It  has  been  already  seen,  that,  in  1809,  Dr.  Miller  pub- 
lished a  sermon  upon  the  Warrant,  Nature,  and  Duties  of 
the  Ruling  Eldership.  In  1831,  he  made  this  the  basis  of 
a  more  extended  publication  upon  the  same  subject.^  The 
latter  he  dedicated  to  the  ministers  and  elders  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.     In  his  address  to  them  he  says, 

"  The  substance  of  the  following  essay  was  delivered,  from 
the  pulpit,  in  the  form  of  a  sermon,  more  than  twenty  years 
ago,  and  subsequently  published.  In  consequence  of  repeated 
solicitation,  from  some  individuals  of  your  number,  I  have 
thought  proper  to  alter  its  form,  to  enlarge  its  limits,  and  to 
adapt  it,  according  to  my  best  judgment,  to  more  general  utility. 
It  has  long  appeared  to  me  that  a  more  ample  discussion  of  this 
subject  than  I  have  hitherto  seen,  is  really  needed." 

^  Forty  Years'  Familiar  Letters,  194. 

2  Dr.  Hall's  Hist,  of  the  First  Presb.  Ch.  of  Trenton,  414. 

3  "An  Essay  on  the  AVarrant,  Nature,  and  Duties  of  the  Office  of  the  Ruling 
Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ec- 
clesiastical History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  New  Jersey.      New  York  and  Boston:  1831." 

After  two  editions  of  this  volume  had  appeared,  it  was,  in  1S40,  adopted  by 
the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  which  now  issues  it — in  octodecimo — 
324  pages. 

The  work  was  re-issued  in  Scotland,  in  1835,  with  an  Introductory  Essay  by 
the  Rev.  William  Lindsay  of  Glasgow,  in  duodecimo — 290  pages. 


172  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  7. 

"I  am  aware  that  some  of  my  brethren  do  not  concur  with 
me  in  maintaining  the  Divine  authority  of  the  office  of  the  Ruling 
Elder;  and,  probably,  in  several  other  opinions  respecting  this 
office  advanced  in  the  following  pages.  In  reference  to  these 
points,  I  can  only  say,  that,  as  the  original  publication,  of  w^hich 
this  is  an  enlargement,  was  made  without  the  remotest  thought 
of  controversy,  and  even  without  adverting,  in  my  own  mind,  to 
the  fact,  that  I  differed  materially  from  any  of  my  brethren; 
so  nothing  is  more  foreign  from  my  wishes,  in  the  republication, 
than  to  assail  the  opinions  or  feelings  of  any  brother.  I  have 
carefully  re-examined  the  whole  subject.  And,  although,  in 
doing  this,  I  have  been  led  to  modify  some  of  my  former 
opinions,  in  relation  to  a  few  minor  points;  yet  in  reference  to 
the  Divine  warrant  and  the  great  importance  of  the  office  for 
which  I  plead,  my  convictions  have  become  stronger  than  ever." 

Dr.  Miller's  publications  upon  the  Ruling  Eldership  were, 
as  to  distinct  treatises  on  the  subject,  almost  pioneers.  The 
Rev.  John  G.  Lorimer,  of  Glasgow,  published  a  work  on 
"The  Eldership  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,"  in  1841,  in 
the  preface  to  w^hich  he  says, 

"The  most  complete  treatise  which  I  have  seen  on  the  subject, 
and  to  which  I  gladly  acknowledge  my  obligations  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  is  a  work  '  On  the  Office  of  the  Ruling  Elder,  by 
Dr.  Samuel  Miller,'  *  *  But  the  work  is  large  for  the  gen- 
eral reader :  though  republished  in  this  country  it  is  little  known : 
and  though  as  a  whole  most  excellent,  it  contains  sentiments  on 
various  important  points  which  no  consistent  member  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  can  approve  or  recommend." 

Dr.  Lorimer  could  find  in  Scotland  only  a  chapter  on  the 
Eldership  in  the  work  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burns  of  Paisley  upon 
Pauperism;  a  pamphlet,  rather  of  a  hortatory  kind,  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Lew^is  of  Dundee;  two  articles  in  the  Presbyterian 
Review  for  November  1834,  and  January  1835,  "by  Alexan- 
der Dunlop,  Esquire,  advocate — himself  a  noble  specimen 
of  an  able  and  devoted  Elder  of  the  Church  of  Scotland;"^ 
with  "A  Treatise  of  Ruling  Elders  and  Deacons,"  a  tract 
"ascribed  to  the  Rev.  James  Guthrie  of  Sterling,  one  of 
the  celebrated  martyrs  of  the  Scottish  Church,"  put  to  death 
under  Charles  the  Second,  in  1G61 — a  treatise  w^hich  Dr. 

1  P.  xiii. 


1831.]  THE    RULING    ELDERSHIP.  173 

Lorimer  republishes  as  part  of  his  volume.  After  quoting 
Romans  12,  6-8,  and  1  Corinthians  12,  28,  Mr.  Guthrie 
remarks, 

"The  third  place  of  Scripture  is:  "Let  the  elders  that  rule 
well  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honour,  especially  they  who 
labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine." — Which  text  doth  hold  forth 
and  distinguish  two  sorts  of  Elders  in  the  church  to  whom  the 
Lord  Jesus  hath  committed  the  power  of  ruling.  One  sort  who 
do  also  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine,  namely,  Pastors  and 
Teachers;  another  sort  who  do  only  rule,  and  doing  it  well  are 
accounted  worthy  of  double  honour ;  and  these  are  the  Ruling 
Elders  of  whom  we  speak."^ 

Agreeing  that  ruling  elders  are  appropriately  named,  and 
that  there  is  a  clear  scriptural  warrant  for  their  office, 
Presbyterians  have  always  differed  among  themselves  as'  to 
the  precise  terms  of  that  warrant,  and,  not  unfrequently, 
as  to  some  of  the  functions  of  the  eldership.  The  view 
above  given,  from  the  work  ascribed  to  Mr.  Guthrie,  was 
the  view  adopted  by  Dr.  Miller;  who  regarded  the  New 
Testament  as  employing  the  term  elder  for  two  distinct 
orders  of  church  officers — distinct  in  ordination,  and  as  to 
their  duties.  To  the  preaching-elder,  or  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  according  to  this  idea,  belonged,  indeed,  all  the 
functions  of  the  ruling  elder,  and,  in  addition  to  these,  the 
preaching  of  the  word,  and  the  ordination  of  other  minis- 
ters, functions  not  belonging  to  the  mere  ruler.  Dr.  Miller 
certainly  did  much  to  spread  this  view  of  the  office  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country,  as  also  in  Scotland, 
and  wherever  Scottish  and  American  Presbyterians  have 
exerted  an  influence.  In  opposition  to  it,  some  have  con- 
tended, that  ruling  elders  are  never  designated  in  Scripture 
by  the  term  elder,  but  by  that  of  deacon,  or  by  only  general 
terms,  such  as  rulers,  heljys,  governmeyits}  Dr.  James  P. 
Wilson,  before  Dr.  Miller's  work  was  published,  had  ably 
maintained,  in  the  New  Haven  Christian  Spectator,  that 
ruling  elders  were  only  deacons  under  another  name ;  and 
the  latter  was  regarded  as  intending  in  his  work  to  answer 
Dr.  Wikon.     There  have  been  later  discussions  of  the  sub- 

1  p.  31.  a  Rom.  32,  8.  1  Cor.  12,  28. 


174  QUIET    YEARS.  [CH.  28.  7. 

ject  in  this  country,  whicli  have,  to  some  extent,  grown  out 
of  the  publications  already  noticed.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge, 
Dr.  Thornwell  and  Dr.  Adger  have  insisted  that  preaching 
and  ruling  elders  are  one  in  order  and  essential  functions ; 
the  preaching  of  the  word,  by  the  call  and  gift  of  God,  and 
the  call  of  the  people,  being  an  unessential  addition  of  duty 
in  certain  cases. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY- NINTH. 

HOUSEHOLD     RELIGION. 

1831. 


1.     Dr.  axd  Mrs.  Miller. 

The  union  of  effort  and  the  harmony,  at  home  and  abroad, 
■which  characterized  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller's  long  married 
life,  have  already  been  brought  to  view  sufficiently  to  justify 
an  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  their  happy  companionship. 
And  in  the  course  of  such  an  inquiry,  perhaps,  may  be  ex- 
hibited to  most  advantage  certain  traits  of  character,  by 
which  they  were  respectively  distinguished. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  imagine,  that  this  harmony 
was  that  of  two  amiable  and  easy  persons,  both  so  quiet 
and  inactive  as  never  to  come  into  collision ;  or  was  to  be 
accounted  for  by  a  controlling  force  of  character  on  either 
side.  It  is  a  very  common  thing  for  husband  and  wife  to 
agree  well,  because  one  constantly  and  cheerfully  yields  to 
the  other,  as  possessing  the  stronger,  more  active  mind,  and 
the  more  determined  will.  This  is  especially  the  case,  where 
the  abler  party  exhibits  those  moral  qualities  which  inspire 
respect  and  conj&dence.  And,  of  course,  when  control 
founded  on  such  grounds  is  wisely  exercised,  and  secures 
hearty  co-operation,  its  results  are  very  beneficial.  The 
natural  influence  which  superiors  exert  over  their  inferiors 
God  has  evidently  designed  for  good  to  both.  But  the  case 
before  us  was  not  of  this  sort. 

And  no  less  a  mistake  would  it  be  to  regard  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Miller  as  harmonious,  because  they  were  singularly  alike 
in  their  natural  endowments  and  tastes,  in  their  education, 
opinions,  or  experience.  Wide  differences  between  them, 
in  these  respects,  have  already  been  brought  to  light.  The 
early  training  of  the  one  was  wholly  unlike  that  of  the  other ; 

175 


176  HOUSEHOLD   RELIGION.  [CH.  29.   1. 

and  previous  pages  liave  made  quite  apparent  Mrs.  Miller's 
remarkable  independence  of  her  husband,  in  the  formation 
of  her  religious  views — those  views  which  he  would  have  been 
expected  especially  to  influence.  It  may  be  interesting,  and 
perhaps  not  uninstructive,  to  notice  some  of  those  points 
in  which  they  diiiered,  and  of  those  in  which  they  were 
alike,  as  the  basis  of  our  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  cause 
of  their  general  agreement. 

Mrs.  Miller,  with,  of  course,  far  less  literary  and  theo- 
logical education  than  her  husband,  was,  perhaps,  his  su- 
perior in  mental  originality,  and  independence  of  thought 
and  investigation.  With  equal  scholastic  acquirements,  she 
would  have  been,  doubtless,  the  more  vigorous  thinker  of 
the  two.  And,  as  the  natural  result  of  such  a  distinction, 
she  was  far  less  yielding  than  he  in  opinion  and  prejudice: 
a  point  as  to  which,  indeed,  his  superior  cultivation  of  mind 
gave  him  obvious  advantage. 

From  nothing  that  he  ever  said,  or  has  left  behind  in 
writing,  can  we  infer  that  there  was  aught  remarkable  in 
Dr.  Miller's  religious  experience.  He  had  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  a  strict  Christian  training,  and  hacl  come,  at 
length,  into  the  church  with,  apparently,  but  a  trembling 
hope  of  an  interest  in  Christ.  His  after  growth  in  grace 
and  experimental  knowledge  seems  to  have  been  gradual, 
almost  imperceptible,  and  perhaps  at  times,  by  unfavorable 
circumstances,  especially  in  New  York,  seriously  retarded. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  his  spiritual  progress  was 
much  more  decided,  constant,  and  vigorous  after  his  re- 
moval to  Princeton,  than  it  had  been  for  many  years  be- 
fore. Doubtless,  in  this  matter,  his  intercourse  with  Dr. 
Alexander  was  greatly  blessed.  At  any  rate,  he  always 
seemed  to  regard  with  profound  respect  the  spiritual  at- 
tainments of  his  colleague ;  and  was  ever  ready  to  defer  to 
him  as  the  safer  and  more  experienced  guide  in  matters  of 
heart  religion.  To  Dr.  Alexander,  as  also,  if  opportunity 
offered,  to  Dr.  Green,  he  would  send  his  own  son  for  reli- 
gious counsel.  Though  Dr.  Miller  suffered,  both  before 
and  after  his  removal  to  Princeton,  several  very  severe  and 
threatening  attacks  of  illness  ;  yet  his  ordinary  health  was 
comfortable  and  even  buoyant ;  and  his  religious  feelings 
shared  in  the  advantages  of  a  happy  constitution  of  mind 


1831.]  DR.  AND    MRS.  MILLER.  177 

and  body.  Yet  lie  was,  at  times,  trouLlccl,  even  down  to 
old  age,  with  doubts  of  bis  acceptance.  Anxiety  on  this 
account,  however,  was  seldom  agitating  enough  to  disturb 
his  even  and  well  balanced  temperament. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mrs.   Miller's  religious  experience 
had  been,  as  we  have  seen,  peculiar  and  strongly  marked. 
Her  slender  Christian  advantages  in  early  life,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  skeptical  opinions  had  protracted  and  embittered 
the  struggle  of  the  flesh  against  the  Spirit.     Besides,  while 
she  never,  after  marriage,  suftered  from  severe,  lengthened 
illness,  she  was  afflicted  much  of  her  life,  especially  until 
all  her  children  were  grown  up,  with  morbid  tendencies  and 
frequent  depression  of  spirits.     For  many  years  after  her 
residence  in  Princeton   commenced,  she  rarely  passed  an 
afternoon  without  nervous  head  ache — often  very  distress- 
ing, although  seldom  preventing  the  discharge  of  household 
duties.     In  her  own  memoirs  she  has  recognized  the  fact, 
that  these  infirmities  had  given  a  sombre  hue  to  her  reli- 
gious experience ;  and  yet,  quite  early  in  that  experience, 
she  laid  fast  hold  upon  a  good  hope,  which  she  maintained 
with  a  singularly  uniform  confidence,  apparently,  and  free- 
dom from  doubt.     Her  early  knowledge  of  fashionable  life, 
and  the  bitterness  which  this  knowledge  had  prepared  for 
her,  had  given  her  an  unusually  deep  impression  of  the  pre- 
vailing evils  of  society,  and  of  the  sinfulness  of  the  natural 
heart ;  and,  for  the  most  part,  she  took  much  more  gloomy 
views  than  Dr.  Miller  of  the  world  and  its  vanities.     Some 
accomplishments  of  a  literary  and  artistic  kind,  which  he 
desired  his  children  to  possess,  she  doubted  and  feared,  be- 
cause of  what  she  imagined  their  worldly,  ensnaring  ten- 
dency. 

Both  felt  it  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  contribute  statedly 
and  constantly  to  the  cause  of  benevolence  and  religion ; 
but  Dr.  Miller's  temptation  was  to  give  too  indiscriminately, 
upon  the  kind  impulses  of  the  moment,  and  with  little  in- 
vestigation ;  while  his  wife's  much  greater  caution  as  to  this 
point  sometimes  endangered  her  withholding  more  than  was 
meet ;  although  to  what  she  thoroughly  approved  she  gave 
most  freely.  Such  a  diff'erence  very  often,  doubtless,  puts 
domestic  harmony  at  risk,  yet,  of  course,  not  so  much  where 
bothparties  are  acting  under  the  strong  dominion  of  prin- 
VoL.  IL— 10. 


178  HOUSEHOLD    RELIGION.  [CH.   29.  1. 

ciple,  and  have  full  faith  each  in  the  other's  conscientious- 
ness. 

With  Dr.  Miller,  faith,  and  reason,  and  conscience  were 
probably  better  balanced,  and  more  symmetrically  exer- 
cised than  with  Mrs.  Miller ;  yet  possibly  he  was  in  danger 
of  looking  too  little  for  constant  divine  guidance.  She,  on 
the  contrary,  was  more  strongly  tempted  than  he  to  super- 
stition, above  all  to  that  form  of  it  which  is  theologically 
termed  enthusiasm — neglecting  too  much  the  guidance  of 
the  natural  faculties,  and  even  the  written  word,  for  provi- 
dential signs,  impressions  and  impulses.  Yet  as  to  no  real 
principle,  in  this  respect,  did  they  differ  ;  and  perhaps  Mrs. 
Miller's  life  exhibited  instances  enough  of  really  wonderful 
divine  interposition,  to  justify  the  doubt,  at  least,  whether 
she  was  not  herein  as  nearly  right  as  her  husband.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  what  all  the  members  of  the  family  knew  of 
her  walk  Avith  God,  and  of  his  dealings  with  her,  gave  them 
an  unusually  deep  impression  of  her  piety  and  prevalence 
in  prayer.  It  was  idle  to  theorize  against  what,  in  her, 
commanded  a  reverence  akin  to  awe. 

In  1827,  we  find  Dr.  Miller  adopting  the  plan  of  giving, 
statedly,  one-tenth  of  his  income.  His  occasional  charities 
doubtless,  always  swelled  the  amount  considerably.  The 
skeleton  of  one  of  his  extemporaneous  discourses,  entitled 
'Rules  of  Giving,'  commends  giving  'willingly,'  'cheer- 
fully,''liberally,'  'spontaneously,'  'statedly,'   'punctually.' 

A  little  peculiarity  of  one  mode  of  Mrs.  Miller's  contri- 
bution to  charitable  objects  will  illustrate  the  two  points  of 
character  last  mentioned.  For  many  years  she  was  in  the 
habit  of  laying  aside  in  a  drawer  every  silver  dollar  that 
came  into  her  possession,  as  belonging  to  God.  It  looked 
as  if  she  feared  that  she  might  not  give  enough,  and  de- 
sired Providence  to  add  just  what  was  deficient.  The  store 
thus  accumulated  was  entirely  independent  of  all  her  ordi- 
nary contributions,  and,  from  time  to  time,  was  devoted  to 
special  objects,  as  they  presented  their  claims  with  peculiar 
force  to  her  mind.  Such  an  object  she  found,  for  example, 
in  the  departure  of  Mrs.  William  M.  Thompson,  and  her 
husband,  as  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  to  the  Holy 
Land,  in  1832.  This  lady,  as  Miss  Eliza  N.  Hanna,  had,  for 
a  number  of  years,  with  her  sister,  conducted  a  female  day 


1831.]  DR.  AND    MRS.  MILLER.  179 

and  boarding  school  in  Princeton,  at  which  more  than  one 
of  Dr.  Miller's  daughters  had  obtained  a  part  of  their  edu- 
cation. She  had  been  very  highly  esteemed ;  and  she  and 
her  husband,  just  prior  to  embarcation,  paid  their  Prince- 
ton friends  a  short  visit,  and  were  entertained  by  Mrs.  Mil- 
ler. They  were  soon  to  bid  farewell,  when  the  hoard  of 
silver  dollars — one  hundred  and  thirty-one — was  brought 
forth,  and  committed  to  Mrs.  Thompson,  for  a  female  school 
in  Syria  under  her  care.  This  habit  of  hoarding  for  God, 
like  all  habits,  seemed  to  increase  constantly  in  power  ;  un- 
til Mrs.  Miller  appeared  to  catch  at  a  silver  dollar,  as  if  it 
were  a  God-send ;  so  that  if  her  husband  or  any  of  her 
children  displayed  one,  she  generally  managed  to  get  it  in 
exchange  for  other  money.  Perhaps,  herein,  according  to 
her  own  principle,  she  was  too  ready  to  go  in  advance  of 
Providence. 

Dr.  Miller's  idea  of  housekeeping  was  less  economical 
than  his  wife's,  and  probably  the  plainness  of  living  which 
happily  distinguished,  to  the  last,  their  mansion  and  house- 
hold, would  have  been  gradually  and  a  good  deal  exceeded, 
as  the  children  grew  up,  but  for  her  vigilant  opposition. 
Yet  her  husband  had  some  very  decided  notions  on  this 
subject,  of  which  he  w^as  most  tenacious.  For  example,  a 
brussels  carpet  was,  in  his  view,  a  piece  of  extravagance 
not  to  be  tolerated.  And  he  often  acknowledofed  that  her 
somewhat  stricter  views,  as  to  eating,  and  drinking,  and 
dressing  had  been  a  great  benefit  to  all  the  family,  himself 
included. 

With  such  differences,  there  were,  to  be  sure,  some  most 
important  points  of  resemblance  between  them.  Not  only 
were  their  fundamental  views  of  gospel  truth  and  gospel 
duty  entirely  coincident;  they  agreed,  also,  in  being  alike 
ardent  lovers  of  Presbyterianism,  as  to  both  its  distinctive 
doctrines  and  polity.  Each  had  a  strong  will  and,  natu- 
rally, an  impatient,  if  not  violent,  temper.  With  a  less 
refined  taste,  and  less  religious  principle,  Dr.  Miller  would 
have  been  hasty  and  passionate,  though  not  vindictive,  or 
disposed  to  brood  over  his  resentments  ;  Mrs.  Miller  wouhl 
have  cherished  longer  enmities — w^ould  have  been  much 
less  placable.  But  they  had  both  equally  studied  to  bring 
their  own  wills  into  complete  subjection  to  God's  will,  and 


180  HOUSEHOLD    RELIGION.  [cil.  29.  2. 

were  perfectly  agreed,  that  the  indulgence  of  hard  thoughts, 
hard  feelings,  or  hard  words,  in  human  intercourse,  and 
especially  between  husband  and  wife,  was  a  very  great  sin. 
And  their  views  of  the  nature,  rights  and  duties  of  the  fa^mily 
relation  were  almost  without  a  shade  of  difference.  Placini; 
before  themselves,  constantly,  not  self-gratification,  but  the 
faithful  discharge  of  duty  ;  not  the  pampering  of  the  flesh, 
but  the  training  of  the  whole  being  for  Christ  and  for 
heaven,  they  had  comparatively  little  temptation  to  disagree. 
Add  to  this  that  devoted,  unwavering,  and  ever-growing 
attachment  to  each  other,  which  had  marked  their  union 
from  the  very  first;  and  the  elements  of  a  harmonious  life 
are  quite  sufficiently  apparent. 

When  a  difference  of  opinion  arose  between  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Miller,  as  to  a  point  comparatively  unimportant,  and  involv- 
ing no  question  of  conscience,  he  generally  gave  way;  and 
he  often  gracefully  acknowledged,  that  his  wife's  judgment 
had  been  the  better.  In  following  out  his  conscientious 
convictions,  however,  he  was  very  firm  ;  and,  when  he  in- 
sisted, Mrs.  Miller  at  once  recognized  her  own  well  consid- 
ered obligation  to  yield :  she  might  expostulate,  but  her 
husband's  decision  was  her  law.  And  it  should  be  observed, 
that  their  disagreements,  when  fully  known  to  their  chil- 
dren, were  uniformly  managed  in  such  a  Christian  spirit, 
that  neither  was  lowered  at  all  in  their  eyes,  by  any  re- 
proach or  imputation  cast  by  one  upon  the  other,  or  any 
noticeable  manifestation  of  evil  temper.  Each  parent's 
example  was  a  changeless  lesson,  to  every  child,  of  love  and 
confidence  towards  the  other  parent;  and  the  studied  respect 
and  beautiful  deference  which  each  constantly  paid  to  the 
other  were  an  embodied  statute  for  the  life-lono;  obedience 
of  all  who  witnessed  their  daily  walk  and  conversation.  To 
their  children,  their  very  faults,  amidst  all  that  was  so 
deeply  revered,  were  but  as  those  of  holy  men  and  women 
of  old,  who  testified  but  the  more  clearly  to  God's  grace, 
by  occasional  evidence  of  feebly  lingering  corruptions,  which 
that  grace  had  so  remarkably  overcome. 

2.  The  Closet  and  the  Family. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  were  truly  of  one  heart  in  their  views 
of  practical  religion.     If  there  was  anything  in  which  they 


1831.]  THE   CLOSET   AND   THE   FAMILY.  181 

were  fully  and  cordially  agreed,  it  was  in  their  striving  to 
make  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God  the  great  end  and 
business  of  life  for  both  themselves  and  every  one  under 
their  roof.  Each  of  them  had  heartily  adopted  the  deter- 
mination of  Joshua — "As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will 
serve  the  Lord."^  Their  example,  their  authority,  their 
instructions,  and  their  prayers  were  unreservedly  consecrated 
to  the  attainment  of  this  result.  No  person  could  belong 
to  their  household,  without  the  assurance  that  they  spent 
much  time  in  closet  devotion ;  and  that  the  daily  seasons 
set  apart  for  this  purpose  were  jealously  guarded  against 
abridgement  and  dissipation.  They  never,  indeed,  gave 
any  one  notice  of  their  hours  of  secret  worship,  or  denied 
themselves  absolutely,  at  such  hours,  to  ordinary  calls;  but 
none  could  fail  to  observe  that  they  regularly  entered  into 
the  closet,  and  shut  the  door ;  and  that  they  yielded  to  in- 
terruptions, when  there  employed,  with  less  willingness 
than  at  almost  any  other  time.  The  manner  of  their  private 
devotions  they  never  disclosed.  Probably  Dr.  Miller  made 
comparatively  little  use  of  any  devotional  book  excepting 
the  Scriptures.  Mrs.  Miller  was  known  to  read  much  in 
Scott's  Family  Bible,  and  to  use  freely,  though  without 
audible  singing,  the  "Psalms  and  Hymns"  employed  in 
the  ordinary  public  worship  which  she  attended.  No  sound 
from  the  closet  of  either  ever  reached  an  ear  outside. 

There  was  reason  to  believe  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller 
seldom  passed  a  day  at  home,  or  together  abroad,  without 
united  prayer  by  themselves.  They  evidently  regarded  such 
union  as  a  special  duty  and  privilege,  because  of  the  special 
promise  connected  with  it  in  God's  word. 

It  is  most  certain  that  their  religion,  in  the  consistency 
of  its  observances,  and  its  unceasing  and  controlling  in- 
fluence upon  the  life,  constantly  commanded  the  respect  of 
all  about  them.  That  the  Scriptures  were  to  them,  not  the 
word  of  men,  but  in  truth  the  word  of  God;  and  that  they 
indeed  ascribed  to  prayer  an  immeasurable  efficacy,  no  one, 
who  enjoyed  any  degree  of  intimacy  with  them,  could  for 
a  moment  doubt.  Children  are,  perhaps,  commonly,  the 
severest  critics,  according  to  the  measure  of  their  intelli- 
gence and  education,  of  the  practical  religion  of  tlieir  parents; 

1  Joshua  24,  15. 

16* 


182  HOUSEHOLD    RELIGION.  [CH.   29.  2. 

whom,  in  the  most  unguarded  moments,  thej  constantly 
observe ;  but  probably  it  never  occurred  to  any  one  in  this 
household  to  question  the  sincerity  of  the  christian  profession 
of  either  father  or  mother.  Indeed  the  devout  earnestness 
and  controlling  power  which  their  faith  constantly  exhibited, 
was,  ever  doubtless,  with  all  their  children,  a  strong  argu- 
ment, and,  throughout  the  earlier  years  of  the  latter,  the 
strongest  argument  which  they  could  understand,  for  the 
verity  and  importance  of  the  doctrines  of  Christ. 

It  was  a  settled  principle  of  the  household,  so  far  as  the 
example  and  untiring  efforts  of  the  parents  could  make  it 
so,  that  every  act,  and  every  thing  were  to  be  ''  sanctified 
by  the  word  of  God  and  prayer."^ 

The  family  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  regarded,  as,  in  the 
beginning,  co-incident  with  the  visible  Church,  and  as  never 
having  lost  its  distinct,  organic  existence,  as  that  church's 
grand  formative  element.  The  children  of  every  joarent 
professing  the  true  religion  they  considered,  of  course,^  as, 
by  birth,  members  of  the  visible  Church,  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  covenant  made  anciently  with  Abraham,  ac- 
knowledged uniformly  by  the  Israelites,  and  handed  down 
to  the  people  of  God,  in  New  Testament  times,  as  a  per- 
petual and  precious  inheritance.  They  believed,  moreover, 
that  faithful  christian  parents  had  special  encouragement 
to  expect  the  salvation  of  their  children.  Perhaps  there  is 
no  evidence  that  they  went  beyond  the  prevailing  belief  of 
evangelical  christians  on  this  point — the  belief,  not  in  an 
absolute  promise,^  but  in  extraordinary  reason  to  hope,  for 

1  I  Timothy  4,  5. 

2  Confession  of  Faith,  Ch.  25,  2. 

3  God's  word  seems  plainly  td  teach,  that  the  children  of  pious  and  faithful 
parents  shall  certainly  be  saved.  This  doctrine,  of  course,  can  be  received  by 
those  only  who  believe  that  he  is  absolutely  sovereign  in  the  dispensation  of 
his  grace.  The  promise  is  made,  not  at  all  to  the  children,  but  to  the  parents. 
"  I  will  establish  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in 
their  generations,  as  an  everlasting  covenant,  to  be  a  God  unto  thee,  and  to 
thy  seed  after  thee."  (Gen.  17,  7.)  Now,  if  being  the  God  of  the  parents 
means  being  their  Saviour,  then  being  the  God  of  the  children  means  just 
as  much.  To  be  sure,  every  divine  promise  is  made  upon  a  condition ;  and 
the  condition  here,  say  some,  is  the  child's  faith  and  obedience.  But  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  condition  lies  upon  the  party  with  whom  the  covenant  is  made, 
not  upon  a  third  party.  In  the  case  before  us,  the  covenant  being  with  the 
parent,  the  condition  is  laid  upon  the  parent  alone.  What  the  condition  is,  we 
find  plainly  declared: — "I  know  him,  that  he  will  command  his  children  and 
his  household  after  him;  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon  Abraham  that  which 
be  hath  spoken  of  him."  (Gen.  18, 19.)     This  teaches  us,  in  brief,  that  parental 


1831.]  THE    CLOSET   AND   THE   FAMILY.  183 

the  full  success  of  parental  fidelity.  But  in  this  view  of 
God's  covenant  they  found  ample  scope  for  a  faith  working 
by  love.  Reason,  experience  and  observation  accorded  with 
the  Bible  in  assuring  them,  that  the  child's  welfare,  both 
temporal  and  eternal,  depended  greatly  upon  a  faithful 
training;  and  they  were  resolved,  trusting  in  divine  grace, 
that  the  blood  of  their  children  should  not  be  found  in  their 
skirts.  The  notion  that  parents  have  little  influence  in 
determining  the  character  and  destiny  of  children, — that 
the  best  trained  often  turn  out  the  worst, — a  notion  at/lirect 
variance  with  Scripture  and  common  sense  alike,  though 
very  popular  with  the  thousands  who  would  throw  ofl* paren- 
tal responsibility,  they  regarded  as  abhorrent  to  every  ra- 
tional and  christian  sentiment. 

Infant  baptism  they  both  esteemed  a  very  precious  or- 
dinance, for  the  truth  which  it  exhibited  and  naturally 
impressed,  the  impulse  which  it  might  give  to  both  parent 
and  child  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and  the  graces  of  the 
Spirit  more  or  less  immediately  connected  with  it  as  God's 
seal  of  his  covenant. 

fidelity  is  certainly  followed  by  the  fulfillment  of  God's  promise,  in  turning  to 
righteousness,  the  immediate  descendants:  the  covenant  is  absolute,  but  abso- 
lute for  only  the  iirst  generation. 

Hence,  in  infant  baptism,  the  transaction  is  wholly  between  God  and  the 
parent.  As  an  adult,  Avhen  baptized,  makes  profession  of  having  entered  into 
a  covenant  with  God;  so  a  parent,  offering  an  infant  for  baptism,  makes  pro- 
fession of  another,  a  further  and  distinct  covenant.  In  the  former  case,  the 
variable  part  of  the  engagement  is,  "I  promise  to  be  faithful  to  my  own  soul;" 
in  the  latter,  **  I  promise  to  be  faithful  to  the  soul  of  my  child."  Of  course  fidelity 
to  the  Saviour  lies  at  the  foundation  of  both  engagements.  It  is  a  popular  but 
groundless  idea,that  the  parent, as  representing  the  child, enters  into  some  engage- 
ment ;  and  the  latter  is  often  exhorted  to  ratify  what  the  former  has  thus  repre- 
sentatively done — to  take  voluntarily  upon  himself  the  vows  made  in  his  name. 
But  how  can  the  child  ever  ratify  the  parent's  promise  of  personal,  parental 
lidelity?  When  the  child  makes  a  profession  of  religion,  he  recognizes  the 
obligation,  not  of  the  latter,  bat  of  the  former,  covenant  mentioned.  The 
parent  vows  to  bring  up  the  child  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 
How  can  the  child  take  that  vow  upon  himself?  Of  various  superstitions'  con- 
nected with  infant  baptism  this  simple  and  scriptural  view  completely  and 
happily  disposes.  The  transaction  is  one  with  which  the  child  has  nothing  to 
do,  excepting  afterwards  to  enjoy  its  fruits.  It  is  a  transaction  sim}.ly  between 
the  parents  and  their  covenant  God;  and  the  grace  properly  onnectcd  with 
infant  baptism  is  received  by  the  parents,  not  by  the  child.  What  good  can  it 
do  the  child?  is  asked  frequently  by  objectors  to  pedobaptism.  None  what- 
ever, immediately,  in  any  case  where  the  subject  is  too  young  to  be  influenced 
by  gospel  truth.  The  infant,  after  this  ordinance,  is  exactly  what  is  was, 
spiritually,  before;  but  the  parents,  who  have  professed  God's  covenant  with 
themselves  for  their  children,  are  bcnetited,  as  parents,  by  that  profession,  in 
its  proper  relations,  just  as  by  any  other  religious  profession.  The  strength 
SBid  the  grace  imparted  are  theirs. 


18J:  HOUSEHOLD   RELIGION.  [CH.   29.  2. 

Twice  every  day,  family  worship  was  as  regularly 
attended  to  as  the  family  meals.  Every  member  of  the 
household,  including  domestics,  and  often  day  laborers,  was 
expected  to  be  present.  In  the  morning,  it  was  Bible 
reading  and  prayer,  sometimes  w^ith  singing :  in  the  evening, 
prayer  alone.  The  younger  children  Mrs.  Miller  was  ac- 
customed to  take  apart,  immediately  after  morning  family 
worship;  and  kneeling  with  them,  she  first  heard  their 
prayers  said,  then  prayed  with  them  and  for  them  herself. 
Every  Sabbath  morning,  she  assembled  all  the  children,  for 
an  hour  previous  to  public  worship,  and,  after  prayer,  read 
to  them  a  sermon,  or  a  portion  of  some  practical  religious 
work.  Upon  each  child's  birth-day,  she  repaired  with  the 
child,  at  a  convenient  time,  to  the  father's  study,  for  a  brief 
season  of  united,  solemn  intercession  suited  to  the  occasion, 
and  seldom  failing  to  produce  some  serious  thoughts.  The 
departure  of  one  or  more  of  the  family  for  a  visit  to  distant 
friends,  or  a  long  journey,  was  often  made  the  occasion  of 
assembling  all  for  special  prayer.  Every  day,  each  child, 
until  home  education  gave  place  to  the  day  or  boarding 
school,  which  was  not  usually  until  after  the  age  of  twelve, 
was  required  to  commit  to  memory  a  few  verses  from  the 
Bible.  Each,  in  this  way,  first  and  last,  committed  all,  or 
nearly  all,  of  the  New  Testament,  and  much  of  the  Old. 
Mrs.  Miller,  assisted  more  or  less  by  the  older  children, 
heard  this  lesson;  and  she  had  some  peculiar  rules  for  it. 
The  verses  of  the  previous  day — in  family  parlance,  the 
'  old  lesson  ' — must  always  be  said  with  the  '  nevf.'  Neither 
was  considered  '  said,'  if  more  than  three  words  were  missed. 
After  learning  the  lesson,  some  little  time  must  be  spent, 
the  book  closed,  in  '  forgetting  '  it,  before  it  was  heard:  this 
plan  of  forgetting  was  designed  to  keep  it  the  longer  in 
memory ;  for  the  ordeal  required  thorough  study  in  the 
first  place. 

To  this  requirement  the  blessed  Saviour  seemed  to  set 
his  own  seal.  Perhaps  all  the  children  were  ready,  in 
matnrer  years,  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness,  both  in- 
tellectually and  religiously,  to  the  practice.  But  one  attes- 
tation of  its  advantages  was  peculiarly  touching.  When 
Edward  was  sinking  in  consumption,  and  began  thought- 
fully to  J  ttend  to  "  the  things  which  belonged  to  his  peace;" 


1831.]  TDE    CLOSET    AND    THE   FAMILY.  185 

and  his  mother,  striving  to  present  the  Saviour  in  his 
sufficiency  and  glory,  and  in  his  wondrous  condescension 
and  sympathy,  had  directed  her  son's  thoughts  to  some 
passages  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews;  she  found,  one 
morning,  almost  to  her  alarm  at  first,  he  was  so  feeble,  that 
he  had  just  committed  to  memory,  besides  a  hymn,  the 
whole  of  the  opening  chapter  of  that  Epistle.  ''  Oh"  said 
he,  "I  once  learned  Hebrews  through,  and  now  it  seems 
fresh  in  my  memory:  it  comes  back  without  any  effort." 

The  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  Westminster  Divines,  and 
to  some  extent  the  Larger,  were  diligently  used  in  the 
family  as  text  books  of  religious  instruction;  and  were 
zealously  recommended  to  all  christian  families  by  precept 
as  well  as  by  example.  The  Sabbath-school,  constantly 
favored,  was,  however,  regarded  not  as  a  substitute  for 
parental  effort,  but  rather  as  a  stimulus  to  it. 

A  strict  observance  of  the  Lord's  Hay,  by  all  the  house- 
hold, was  very  strongly  insisted  upon,  but  without  any  mere 
ritualistic  turn  to  the  requirement.  "  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  It  was  a 
precious  day  for  its  spiritual  uses  and  benefits;  yet  works 
of  necessity  and  mercy  were  admitted  with  a  free  spirit.  Mrs. 
Miller,  though  never  accustomed  to  such  an  observance,  en- 
tertained a  decided  preference  for  the  New  England  reckon- 
ing of  the  Lord's  day,  and  always  urged  that,  at  any  rate, 
Saturday  evening  should  be  "  the  preparation  "  for  the 
Sabbath. 

Every  member  of  the  family,  including  domestics,  was 
expected  to  attend  God's  house  upon  the  Sabbath  day. 
This  rule  was  so  imperative,  that  no  child,  well  enough  to 
go  out,  ever  dreamed  of  asking  to  stay  at  home.  It  was  so 
well  understood,  and  so  steadily  and  invariably,  though 
lovingly,  enforced,  that  dispute  or  conflict  on  the  subject 
never  arose.  The  dwelling  was  commonly  locked  up  and 
left  to  itself.  In  the  judgment  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller,  to 
pre-occupy  the  minds  of  all  their  children  with  their  own 
honest  and  well-considered  religious  convictions,  even  to 
their  denominational  preferences,  was  as  clear  a  duty  as  to 
cherish,  themselves,  those  convictions.  The  soul  not  taken 
possession  of  for  God,  they  regarded  as  abandoned  to  Satan  ; 
and  all  their  parental  authority,  power,  and  influence  they 


186  HOUSEHOLD    RELIGION.  [CH.   29.  3. 

sedulously  employed  to  mould  each  soul  according  to  their 
own  settled  views  of  the  gospel.  The  only  assurance  that 
children  w^ould  ever  make  a  right  choice,  in  the  matter  of 
religion,  they  found  in  faithfully  bringing  them  up  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

The  children  were  often  encouraged,  though  not  abso- 
lutely required,  to  write  abstracts  of  the  sermons  and  relig- 
ious lectures  which  they  had  heard.  When  the  Rev.  George 
Bush,  before  his  lapse  into  Swendenborgianism,  was  lecturing 
in  Princeton  upon  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  great  interest 
was  excited  and  kept  up  in  the  family,  throughout  the 
course,  by  adding  a  pecuniary  inducement  to  the  proposition 
that  all  should  write  abstracts,  which  were  to  be  prepared 
from  memory  alone. 

3.     Worldly  Amusements. 

In  condemning,  and  in  prohibiting  to  their  children  and 
all  under  their  authority,  what  they  regarded  as  sinful 
worldly  amusements  and  indulgences.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller 
were  strict  and  earnest.  The  theatre  and  its  kindred  re- 
sorts need  hardly  be  mentioned  as  forbidden.  About  the 
year  1826,  the  former  contributed  two  or  more  short  arti- 
cles to  the  Nc^v  Jersey  Patriot^  a  weekly  newspaper  pub- 
lished in  Princeton,  on  the  subject  of  social  amusements. 
They  were  replies  to  articles  that  had  appeared  in  the  same 
paper  previously.  One  of  them  relates  expressly  to  Dan- 
cing. Dr.  Miller  had  been  brought  up  plainly,  as  w^ell  as 
religiously,  and,  it  is  probable,  had  never  learned  to  dance. 
Yet,  in  the  article  last  mentioned,  he  says,  "On  this  sub- 
ject, the  writer  does  not  speak  from  mere  hearsay.  In 
youth,  he  was  no  stranger  to  the  dancing-party  and  the 
ball-room."  In  Philadelphia,  no  doubt,  during  his  college 
course,  he  had  experienced  many  temptations  to  worldliness 
in  the  form  of  gay  fashionable  life;  but  his  profession  of 
religion,  his  thoughts  already  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and 
all  his  home  recollections,  if  not  some  of  his  immediate  as- 
sociations in  the  city,  had  proved  a  strong  and  effectual  re- 
straint. When,  however,  sur)'ounded  as  he  was,  and  not 
wholly  uninfluenced,  by  the  fashionable  society  of  New 
York,  he  was  to  provide  for  the  education  of  his  first  chil- 
dren, and  the  question  arose,  whether  they  should  possess 


1831.]  WORLDLY   AMUSExMENTS.  187 

those  outward  graces  which  many  imagine  that  a  dancing- 
master  only  can  impart,  he  seems  at  least  to  have  wavered. 
Mio-ht  they  not,  he  asked,  learn  the  poetry  of  motion,  with- 
out being  led  away  to  the  ball-room,  or  into  the  dissipations 
of  the  gay  world  ?  Mrs.  Miller,  doubtless,  had  passed  un- 
der the  dancing-master's  hand ;  nay,  had  experienced,  in 
many  a  fashionable  rout,  the  true  effects  of  such  a  training; 
and  she  never  hesitated,  but  set  her  face,  at  once,  against 
exposing  her  children  to  the  fearful  dangers,  from  which, 
as  she  ever  felt,  she  had  been  plucked,  of  God's  unspeaka- 
ble mercy,  like  a  brand  from  the  fire.  In  after  years,  hia 
wife's  judgment  having  prevailed,  the  hour  of  temptation 
having  passed  away,  and  his  own  mind  having  attained  to 
maturer  views  of  the  whole  subject,  Dr.  Miller  thankfully 
rejoiced  in  the  issue.  The  writer  once  put  to  him  the 
question,  'What  is  the  harm  of  dancing?'  He  replied,  in 
substance,  that  oi promiscuous  dancing — the  dancing  of  the 
two  sexes  together — the  very  origin  and  inherent  nature 
Avere  most  unholy  ;  that  it  was  strictly  pantomimic,  and  all 
its  motions  were  but  the  dalliance  of  sinful  passions  ;  that 
it  had  really  a  meaning,  and  that  altogether  abominable. 
Dr.  Miller  regarded  it,  then,  as  sinful  in  itself,  and  not 
simply  on  account  of  its  many  evil  accompaniments;  al- 
though these  too  he  fully  recognized.  And  who  may  not 
clearly  discern,  especially  in  the  "round  dances"  so  fash- 
ionable at  the  present  day,  this  ''harmless  amusement,"  as 
some  would  fain  believe  it,  simply  revealing  a  natural  and 
settled  tendency  to  revert  to  its  naked  and  shameless  ori- 
ginal ?  Satan  provides  for  his  votaries  their  proper  offer- 
ings, which  bear  too  clearly  the  stamp  of  his  lordship  to  be 
ever  alienated  wholly  from  his  service.  In  the  article  just 
referred  to,  Dr.  Miller  said, 

"*  *  Not  only  some  nominal  Christians,  but  some  whom 
we  must  regard  as  truly  intelligent  and  pious  Christians,  have 
professed  to  see  no  evil  in  dancing,  and  have  not  hesitated  even 
to  speak  well  of  it,  as  friendly  to  health,  and  conducive  to  ease 
and  gracefulness  of  manner.  But  it  is  equally  certain  that  a 
much  larger  number,  nay,  an  overwhelming  majority  of  those 
who  were  most  eminent  for  the  intelligence  and  fervour  of  their 
piety,  have  been,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  opposed  to  promis- 
cuous dancing,  as  unfavorable  to  the  purity  and  spirituality  of 
the  Gospel,  and  calculated  to  produce  very  serious  mischiefs. 


188  HOUSEHOLD    RELIGION.  [CH.   29.  3. 

That  the  great  body  of  the  best  divines  and  best  Christians  that 
have  ever  lived,  from  the  Apostles'  days  to  the  present  time, 
have  been  of  this  opinion,  no  one  can  doubt  who  has  taken  the 
least  pains  to  obtain  impartial  information  on  the  subject.  *  * 
The  plea  that  dancing  is  conducive  to  health  appears  to  me  per- 
fectly frivolous.  Walking  or  riding  in  the  open  air  is  surely 
far  more  friendly  to  health  than  skipping  about  within  doors, 
under  the  direction  of  a  dancing-master,  or  sweltering,  for  four 
or  five  hours  together,  in  the  close,  impure  atmosphere  of  a 
ball-room,  and  then  coming  forth  into  the  frosty  night  air,  to 
incur  the  risk  of  a  fatal  disease.  Such  practices  have  injured 
the  health  twenty  times  where  they  have  restored  or  confirmed 
it  once.  The  plea  that  learning  the  art  of  dancing  contributes 
to  gracefulness  of  attitude  and  movement,  is  not,  I  grant,  wholly 
without  foundation ;  but  I  contend  that  the  same  advantages 
may  be  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  efiectually  gained,  and  with  more 
unaffected  simplicity,  by  other  means.  On  the  one  hand,  some 
of  the  most  graceful  and  polished  persons  I  have  ever  seen 
never  danced  a  step  in  their  lives ;  and,  on  the  other,  the  most 
fantastical  and  disgusting  manners  that  were  ever  witnessed, 
have  often  been  exhibited  by  those  who  were  devoted  to  the 
amusement  of  dancing.  ^  *  The  dancing  of  the  sexes  to- 
gether is  calculated  to  promote  a  spirit  of  vanity,  sensuality 
and  corruption.  *  *  Some  even  of  the  more  serious  heathen 
condemned  it  as  inconsistent  with  female  purity.     *     * 

"Some  parents  have  indeed  alleged,  that  they  had  their  chil- 
dren instructed  in  the  art  of  dancing,  not  that  they  might  after- 
wards figure  at  balls  and  assemblies.,  which  they  have  acknow- 
ledged to  be  scenes  of  unchristian  vanity ;  but  that  they  might 
gain  the  immediate  advantages  of  the  art  as  to  manners.  But 
what  parent  can  be  sure  that  his  purpose  will  be  regarded  in 
the  subsequent  life  of  the  child?  The  parent  may  intend 
nothing  but  the  promotion  of  personal  elegance  and  graceful- 
ness. But  the  child  may  be  so  enamoured  and  fascinated  by 
the  new  acquisition,  as  to  be  borne  away  by  it,  and  tempted  to 
launch  out  into  all  the  extravagance  of  the  most  corrupting 
dissipation.  In  such  a  case,  is  not  the  parent  really  chargeable 
with  the  sin  of  leading  his  child  into  temptation,  perhaps  into 
ruin  ? — Could  any  reasonable  child  suppose  that  an  enlightened 
Christian  parent  would  deliberately  have  him  taught  that  which 
he  wished  him  never  to  jyractice  f 

"  Let  it  not  be  said,  that  I  am  arguing  only  against  the  ah'me 
of  dancing ;  and  that  the  best  things  may  be  abused.  I  con- 
tend that  the  unhallowed  influence  of  which  I  have  spoken,  is 
its  native  tcndenci/." 


1831.]  WORLDLY   AMUSEMENTS.  189 

Noticing  the  concession  that,  "when  young  people  become 
serious,  they  lose  all  inclination  for  this  amusement,"  he  says, 
"  This  is  undoubtedly  true.  I  never  knew  an  exception.  And 
the  only  wonder  is  that  your  correspondent  did  not  perceive 
how  fatal  the  fact  was  to  the  whole  scope  of  his  argument.  Can 
it  possibly,  then,  be  the  duty  of  a  Christian  parent  to  teach  his 
child  that  which  is  acknowledged  not  to  be  reconcilable  with 
Christian  feeling,  and  which,  the  moment  that  child  comes  to 
his  senses  with  respect  to  divine  things,  he  will,  of  course, 
abandon  ?     *     * 

"In  fine,  Mr.  Editor,  though  I  would  by  no  means  exclude 
from  church-membership  those  who  occasionally  danced  them- 
selves, and  taught  their  children  to  dance ;  but  would  bear  with 
them,  if  otherwise  exemplary,  "because  of  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts";  yet  I  greatly  admired  and  heartily  approved  the  an- 
swer given  by  a  pious  minister  to  a  lady,  rather  gay  and  worldly 
in  her  habits,  who  proposed  to  become  a  communicant  of  the 
church  under  his  pastoral  care.  "I  learn,  Sir,"  said  she,  "that 
you  do  not  allow  your  church  members  to  dance,  or  attend 
balls."  —  "You  have  been  misinformed,  Madam,"  said  the 
worthy  minister :  "I  do  not  attempt,  by  my  authority  to  pre- 
vent the  members  of  my  church  from  engaging  in  such  amuse- 
ments;  hut,  if  their  religion  does  not  prevent  them,  I  ivould  not 
give  much  for  it.'' 

In  his  Retrospect  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  Dr.  Miller, 
while  pointedly  condemning  the  great  mass  of  the  works  of 
fiction  current  in  that  day,  yet  expressed  the  opinion,  that 
such  works,  executed  in  a  proper  manner,  were  justified  by 
their  evident  utility,  and  by  the  use  of  parables  in  the 
Scriptures.     He  said, 

"  Novels  maij  be  so  written  as  to  promote  the  cause  both  of 
knowledge  and  virtue.  They  may  be  constructed  in  such  a 
manner  as  will  tend  to  lead  the  mind  insensibly  from  what  is 
sordid  and  mean  to  more  worthy  pursuits,  and  to  fill  it  with 
pure,  elevated  and  liberal  sentiments.  Nay,  it  may  be  further 
conceded,  that,  out  of  the  myriads  of  novels  which  have  been 
composed,  a,  few  are,  in  fact,  entitled  to  this  character,  and  have 
a  tendency  to  produce  these  effects."^ 

But  it- is  evident  that  Dr.  Miller  entertained,  his  life 
long,  a  growing  conviction  against  novel  reading.  It  is 
by  no  means  clear  that  the  example  of  inspiration  can  be 
fairly  pleaded  for  any  species  of  fiction ;   while  quite  cer- 

^  Chap.  xix. 

Vol.  II.— 17. 


190  HOUSEHOLD    RELIGION.  [CH.    29.  3. 

tain  that  it  cannot  be  for  novels  and  romances.  These  are 
simply  the  distilled  spirits  of  the  intellectual  and  moral 
world ;  and,  as  belonging  to  such  a  world,  might  be  called 
spirituous  much  more  properly  than  any  distillation  from 
material  substances.  Like  alcoholic  drinks,  they  are  con- 
centrated extracts  of  intoxicating  principles,  too  feeble,  in 
their  native  diluted  condition,  to  offer  the  craved  stimulus. 
Whatever  in  the  history  of  common  life  is  stimulating  in  a 
moderate  o.nd  healthful,  or  comparatively  harmless,  degree, 
is  separated  and  condensed  in  the  novel,  so  as  to  produce  a 
higher,  altogether  unnatural,  and  necessarily  injurious  ex- 
citement. And  surely  spiritual,  cannot  be  less  injurious, 
to  the  inebriate  himself  at  least,  than  sensual,  intoxication. 
The  ruin  caused  by  novels  is  just  as  real  and  lamentable 
as  that  caused  by  ardent  spirits  and  drugs,  though,  as  in- 
tellectual and  moral  chiefly,  less  visible  than  the  latter. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  were  perfectly  agreed  in  the  endeavor 
to  keep  novels  entirely  away  from  their  children,  until  they 
crept  in,  to  some  extent,  under  the  guise  of  religion,  and 
from  the  Sabbath-school  library.  From  the  published 
works  of  the  former  a  number  of  quotations  might  be  given 
to  the  same  effect  as  the  following : — 

"  I  would  advise  you  to  exclude  novels  from  youe  light 
HEADING  altogethePw  I  throw  this  counsel  into  a  separate 
section,  for  the  purpose  of  making  it  more  emphatical.  There 
have  been  ministers  who  were,  habitually,  among  the  most  de- 
voted readers  of  novels  to  be  found.  But  I  hardly  need  say, 
that  they  were  not,  in  general,  the  most  diligent  and  exemplary 
in  the  discharge  of  their  parochial  duties.  I  am  not  insensible 
of  the  powerful  talents  and  fascination  displayed  in  many  of 
the  first  class  of  novels.  But  on  this  very  account,  as  well  as 
others,  I  would  banish  them  from  the  study  of  a  gospel  minister. 
I  consider  them  as  an  article,  which,  like  tobacco  and  ardent 
spirits,  if  a  man  use  at  all,  he  will  probably  be  tempted  to  use 
excessively.  And,  therefore,  I  would  say,  Touch  not,  taste  not, 
handle  not.  No  one,  however  grave  his  character  or  pursuits, 
if  he  once  give  way  to  this  sort  of  reading,  can  ever  be  sure  that 
he  will  not  go  to  excess  ;  and  every  man  who  abounds  in  novel 
reading,  even  though  he  be  a  clergyman,  will  suffer  both  intel- 
lectual and  moral  injury  of  no  trivial  import."^ 

^  Clerical  Manners  and  Habits  ;  Let.  8,  ^  15. 


CHAPTER  THIRTIETH. 

TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN. 


1831,  1832. 


1.  The  General  Assembly. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1831  will  ever  be  memorable 
in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States  as  the  scene  of  the  first  great,  general  conflict  between 
the  Old  and  New  School  parties.  It  was  much  the  largest 
Assembly  that  had  ever  yet  convened;  and  it  soon  became 
quite  evident  that  the  New  School  wielded  a  decisive  ma- 
jority, and  that  efforts,  never  before  made,  to  secure  such  a 
result  in  this  highest  court  of  the  Church,  had  been  syste- 
matically, energetically  and  successfully  prosecuted.  To 
sustain  Mr.  Barnes,  and  to  destroy  or  paralyze  the  Presby- 
terian Boards,  were  avowed  objects  with  marshalled  com- 
panies of  New  School  men  coming  from  various  parts  of 
the  land. 

Of  this  Assembly  Dr.  Miller  was  a  member,  and  its  ex- 
citing and  painful  scenes  were  almost  too  much  for  his 
physical  strength.  In  a  letter  of  the  14th  of  June  following, 
to  Mrs.  Wales,  he  said, 

'From  the  hour  the  General  Assembly  commenced  its  session, 
until  the  last  moment  I  remained  with  it,  the  business  was  of 
such  a  character,  and  was  so  urged  on,  that  it  was  impossible 
to  be  absent,  consistently,  as  I  thought,  with  fidelity,  for  a  mo- 
ment. I  remained  till  near  the  close  of  the  business,  when  I 
became  so  feeble,  reduced,  and  nervous,  that  I  was  unfit  for 
anything.' 

He  wrote  homo,  despondingly,  of  the  prospect.  In  her 
diary,  on  the  21th  of  May,  his  wife  wrote, 

'The  Lord,  I  trust,  put  it  into  my  heart,  yesterday,  to  take 
my  husband's  letter  to  Dr.  Alexander,  and  communicate  to  him 

191 


192        TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN.   [CH.  30.  1. 

tlie  gloomy  account  Avlnch  it  contained  of  appearances  in  the 
General  Assembly ;  and  to  endeavour  to  get  him  to  propose  a 
meeting  for  special  prayer  on  this  behalf.  He  proposed  to 
make  our  early  morning  meeting  an  opportunity  for  the  pur- 
pose, when,  by  a  few  words,  the  praying  people  amongst  us 
might  be  awakened  to  plead  for  this  representation  of  the  Church, 
about  which  much  deadness  and  carelessness  seem  to  prevail. 
He  came  amongst  us  himself  this  morning  according  to  promise, 
and  the  Lord,  too,  seemed  to  be  with  us;  and  it  was  proposed 
that  all  these  early  meetings,  during  the  sitting  of  the  Assembly, 
should  include  the  concerns  of  the  Church,  as  involved  in  this 
representative  body,  among  their  objects  at  the  throne  of  grace.' 

It  may  here  be  remarked,  that  the  terms  Old  Scliool  and 
Netv  ScJiooI,  though  previously  employed,  first  began,  in 
this  Assembly,  to  obtain  some  currency.  The  choice  of 
Dr.  Beman,  both  theologically  and  ecclesiastically  an  ex- 
treme New  School  man,  as  moderator,  testified  to  the 
strength  of  the  party  of  which  he  was  an  acknowledged 
leader.  The  organization  had  hardly  been  effected,  before 
a  struggle  commenced  in  regard  to  the  case  of  a  committee- 
man, of  a  Congregational  church,  who  appeared  with  a 
commission  from  a  mixed  presbytery — that  of  Grand 
River — formed  under  the  "Plan  of  Union."  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  a  seat ;  but,  afterwards  it  was  resolved,  that  such 
appointments  to  sit  in  the  Assembly  were  inexpedient,  and 
of  questionable  constitutionality,  and  ought  not  in  future 
to  be  made.  Said  one  who  listened  to  the  discussion  in 
this  case, 

'I  recollect  the  able  and  unanswerable  argument  of  Dr.  Miller 
too,  whicli  was  equal  to  demonstration,  that  we  could  not  admit  a 
mere  layman,  sustaining  no  office  in  the  church,  to  ^  seat  in 
the  Asscml)ly,  and  that  we  mirjht  not  even  if  w^e  could,  admit  a 
man  to  legislate  and  make  laws  to  bind  us,  who  himself  not  only 
belonged  virtually  to  another  denomination,  but  who  shewed 
by  the  ]iosition  he  occupied  that  he  would  not  come  under  these 
laws  or  be  bound  ])y  them  himself!  It  would  be  like  admitting 
a  monarchist  to  a  seat  in  a  legislature  to  make  laws  for  repub- 
licans, though  he  was  at  once  an  alien  and  on  principle  opposed 
to  the  system  in  which  he  wanted  to  legislate.'^ 

The  case  of  Mr.  Barnes  now  came  up,  upon  a  reference 
from  the  Old  School  majority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, and   complaints   from   the  New  School  minority. 

1  Lalt.  Lit.  and  Kulig.  Magazine,  (183S,)  413. 


1831.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  193 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  Presb^^tery,  beyond  all  ques- 
tion, had  violated  Mr.  Barnes's  constitutional  rights,  by 
censuring  and  admonishing  him  personally,  under  the  plea 
of  their  undoubted  authority  to  condemn  a  printed  publi- 
cation bearing  his  name.  The  complainants,  therefore, 
must  be  sustained  as  to  this  very  important  point ;  and, 
moreover,  to  remit  the  case  to  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia would  be  to  refer  most  difficult  and  delicate  matters 
for  adjustment  to  a  judicatory  which  had  already  made 
grievous  mistakes  in  its  manner  of  proceeding,  and  was 
becoming  more  and  more  unfitted,  by  excitement  and  con- 
flict, for  deciding  wisely  such  an  issue.  Thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  all  this,  and  confident  that  the  toleration  of  Mr. 
Barnes's  errors  was  the  less  of  two  pressing  evils.  Dr. 
Miller  urged  repeatedly,  and  at  length  successfully,  the 
reference  of  the  whole  case,  by  consent  of  parties,  to  a 
special  committee,  whose  report,  if  adopted  by  the  Assem- 
bly, should  be  final.  With  apparent  reluctance,  this  was 
agreed  to  by  the  prosecutors  on  behalf  of  Presbytery.  The 
committee  was  appointed,  with  Dr.  Miller  as  chairman,  and 
their  report,  partly  from  his  pen,  was  adopted  with  but  a  few 
dissenting  votes.  The  conscientious  zeal  of  the  Presbytery 
was  commended  ;  Mr.  Barnes's  sermon  was  declared  to 
"  contain  a  number  of  unguarded  and  objectionable  pas- 
sages ;"  the  opinion,  however,  was  expressed,  that  the 
Presbytery,  particularly  after  his  explanations,  ought  to 
have  dropped  the  matter,  and  ought  now  to  suspend  all 
further  proceedings  ;  and  it  was  pronounced  expedient  to 
divide  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in  such  a  way  as 
w^ould  be  best  fitted  to  promote  the  peace  of  the  ministers 
and  churches  thereto  belonging  ;  and  to  settle,  in  thesi,  the 
abstract  questions  presented  by  the  reference,  rather  than 
in  connection  with  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes. 

This  report,  though  originally  drawn  by  Dr.  Miller,  and 
by  him  as  chairman  presented,  had  been  so  much  altered, 
against  his  judgment,  by  the  majority  of  the  committee, 
that  it  cannot  fairly  be  attributed  to  him ;  and  he  ex- 
pressed his  dissent  from  it  "  explicitly  and  publicly."  Out 
of  it  grew  the  ''elective  affinity"  presbytery,  which  after- 
ward gave  so  much  trouble ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
a  division    other  than   by  geographical    lines   was  as   yet 

17* 


194  TROUBLES   WITHOUT   AND    AVITIIIX.       [CH.  80.  1. 

distinctly  contemplated.  So  far  as  he  was  responsi- 
ble for  the  measures  adopted,  they  were,  at  least,  the 
fruit  of  an  honest  effort  to  restore  peace  to  the  Church. 
The  evils,  which  others  more  clearly  discerned,  and  which 
vitally  endangered  her  purity  and  order,  had  they  been 
only  what  he  thouc^ht  them,  might,  perhaps,  have  been  thus 
kept  under  and  finally  eliminated.  But  they  were  too 
great  and  too  rapidly  growing,  to  yield  to  such  treatment. 
Yet  who  can  say,  with  confidence,  that  this  adjustment,  so 
so  far  as  it  was  advocated  by  Dr.  Miller,  was  not,  for  that 
time,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  proposal  to  divide 
the  presbytery,  the  best  of  which  the  case,  painfully 
involved  as  it  had,  by  unskillful  treatment,  become,  really 
adiiiitted  ? 

The  proceedings  of  this  Assembly,  in  regard  to  its 
Boards,  next  claim  our  attention.  The  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  from  the  very  time  of  its  formation, 
had  striven,  in  the  interest  of  New  Sclioolism,  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  domestic  missionary  operations  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  Its  advocates  and  agents,  with  Dr.  Peters, 
its  corresponding  secretary,  at  their  head,  Avere  now  constant- 
ly crying  out  against  the  alleged  evils  of  denominational 
boards — the  division  of  Christian  force  and  the  unhappy  [con- 
flict of  evangelical  effort  which  the  co-existence  of  such 
boards  with  voluntary  societies  involved.  They  lauded  the 
advantages  of  union  effort,  and  the  superior  capacity  of 
tlieir  own  institution.  So  limited  had  been  the  powers, 
and  so  lamentable  the  inefficiency  of  the  Assembly's  Board 
of  Missions,  prior  to  the  year  1828,  that  even  some  of  its 
friends,  had  almost  despaired  of  its  success.  But,  in  that 
year,  an  overture  for  its  improved  organization,  signed  by 
Dr.  Green  and  others,  had  been  presented  to  the  Assembly, 
which  had  been  deliberating  favorably  upon  the  subject, 
wlien  the  Home  Missionary  Society  had  interposed,  throuo-h 
a  committee  delegated  for  the  purpose,  resisted  the  pro- 
jected improvement  of  the  Board,  and  succeeded  in  havino- 
tbe  whole  matter  indefinitely  postponed.  The  New  School 
party,  however,  in  the  Assembly,  alarmed  apparently  by 
the  feeling  wliieli  this  action  had  excited,  had  afterward 
agreed,  virtually  to  reconsider  the  subject,  and,  at  length, 
under  the  form  of  a  declaration  that  certain  powers  already 
belonged  to  the  Board,  liad  conferred  upon  it  the  substance 


1831.]  THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  195 

of  that  authority  for  which  its  friends  had  asked.  Hence- 
forward the  resources  of  the  Board  and  its  efficiency  had 
rapidly  increased:  in  1828,  it  had  reported  less  than  $3,000 
as  its  receipts  :  in  1831,  it  reported  nearly  $20,000.  But 
success  had  proved  more  hazardous  than  the  want  of  it,  as 
it  had  only  excited  the  agents  and  adherents  of  the  Home 
Missionary  Society  to  more  determined  opposition.  To  a 
courteous  letter  of  salutation  from  the  Board,  soon  after 
its  re-invigoration,  the  Society  had  returned  an  answer, 
still  insisting  upon  the  incompatibility  of  two  such  agencies, 
and  upon  the  Board's  becoming  an  auxiliary  or  branch 
of  its  own,  as  the  absolute  condition  of  harmony  between 
the  two.  To  secure  complete  control  of  the  Board,  or  its 
destruction,  it  was  quite  plain  was  now  the  Society's  de- 
termined purpose.  Dr.  Miller  had  been  a  commissioner  to 
the  Assembly  of  1828,  and,  although  a  friend  and  sup- 
porter of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  had,  throughout, 
asserted  the  right  and  duty  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to 
carry  on  its  missionary  work  through  its  own  agencies — de- 
nominational boards;  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Missions,  and  a  trusted,  hearty  co-operator  in  every 
effort  to  increase  its  efficiency. 

During  the  winter  of  1830-31,  Dr.  Beman,  upon  a  tour 
through  the  South,  and  Dr.  Peters,  by  six  letters,  entitled 
"A  Plea  for  Union  in  the  West,"  published  in  the  Cincin- 
nati Journal,  with  the  aid,  before  the  Assembly  convened, 
of  the  Christian  Spectator,  at  Ncay  Haven,  writing  earnestly 
in  behalf  of  Mr.  Barnes,  were  preparing  the  way  for  a 
triumph,  which,  with  an  overwhelming  majority,  to  all  ap- 
pearance, in  their  favour,  they  failed,  nevertheless,  for  some 
reason,  to  secure  in  full.  They  went  far  enough  to  disclose 
very  clearly  their  real  intention ;  but  it  seemed  as  though, 
when  the  critical  moment  arrived,  they  lacked  that  boldness, 
or  that  perfect  command  over  their  adherents,  which  was  es- 
sential to  complete  success.  In  fact,  there  must  have  been,  in 
the  Assembly,  a  considerable  number  of  men,  not  bound  to 
any  party,  who,  while  they  often  sAvelled  the  New  School 
ranks,  were  open  to  conviction  by  arguments  from  the 
opposite  side. 

Dr.  Peters,  in  his  Plea  for  Union,  had  brought  the  most 
extraordinary  charges  against  the  Board  of  Missions  and 
its  officers — such  men   as  Dr.  Green^  Dr.  Skinner,  and  Dr. 


lOG  TROUBLES    WITHOUT   AND    WITIIIX.       [CII.  30.  1. 

:\IcAulcy— tlie  latter  two  belonging  to  the  New  School 
party.  He  had  represented  himself  as  making  an  "  ex- 
posure," which  might  "occasion  malignant  satisfaction  in 
the  mimls  of  opposers,"  was  to  be  regretted  "when  the  eyes 
of  an  infidel  world  were  watching  with  eagerness  for  the 
haltini,'  of  christians,"  but  was  required  by  their  "  high  and 
holy  obligations  "  "  to  provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of 
nil  men."°  After  this  disclosure  of  the  designs  of  Dr.  Peters 
and  his  co-adjutors,  it  cannot  have  surprised  any  one,  that 
they  insisted,  in  the  Assembly,  upon  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  nominate  a  new  Board;  but  it  was  a  complete 
surprise  to  the  friends  of  the  Board,  when  that  committee 
reported  a  list  of  men  avowedly  hostile  to  it,  and  virtually 
pledged,  if  not  to  destroy  it,  at  least  to  make  it  wholly  sub- 
servi°  nt  to  the  Home  Missionary  Society.  Said  the  Chris- 
tian Advocate,^  afterward, 

"  It  was  the  report  of  this  committee  which  led  to  those  scenes 
of  disorder  and  confusion  which  disgraced  the  Assembly,  and 
grieved  every  friend  to  religion  and  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  report  was  so  flagrantly  and  intolerably  at  war  with  all 
ccpiity  and  propriety,  that  it  produced  criminations  and  rc- 
erimimitions,  which  isssued  in  a  complete  disregard  of  the  mod- 
erator and  of  all  order;  and  rendered  a  hasty  recess  the  only 
expedient  left,  to  l)ring  the  members  into  a  temper  that  would 
ndniit  of  their  proceeding  in  business." 

After  this  recess,  the  Assembly  engaged  in  pra3^er  for  a 
better  mind,  for  divine  guidance,  and  for  more  harmonious 
action;  when  the  opponents  of  the  Board  finally  agreed  to 
the  re-appointment  of  its  old  members,  in  connexion  with  a 
recommendation  to  the  Western  Synods,  "in  view  of  exist- 
ing evils,  resulting  from  the  separate  action  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society,"  "to  endeavor  to  agree  upon 
some  plan  of  conducting  domestic  missions  in  the  AVestern 
States,"  and  report  tlie  same  to  the  next  Assembly.  In 
accordance  with  this  recommendation,  a  convention  of  dele- 
gates from  the  several  presbyteries  composing  the  Western 
hynods  met  in  Cincinnati,  on  the  2od  of  November,  and, 
after  a  week's  deliberation,  by  a  vote  of  fifty-four  to  fifteen 
declared  it  inexpedient  to  propose  any  change  in  the  General 
Assembly's  mode  of  conducting  missions;  and  that,  in 
tlieir  opinion,  tlie  purity,  ])eace  and  prosperity  of  the  Pres- 

'  ii  Vol.,  47(3. 


1831.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  197 

byterian  Church  depended  upon  giving  eflScient  aid  to  the 
Assembly's  Board,  already  in  successful  operation. 

While  the  more  advanced  New  School  men,  in  this  As- 
sembly, had  thus  endeavored  to  give  over  the  Board  of 
Missions,  because  it  was  somewhat  prosperous,  to  its  enemies 
for  destruction,  they  left,  contemptuously,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  Board  of  Education,  which  was  sadly  languishing,  to 
its  Philadelphia  friends  for  burial.     Dr.  Baird  says, 

"  The  opportunity  thus  given  was  seized  upon  by  the  Old 
School  party;  who  thereupon,  proposed  an  enlargement  of  the 
Board,  which  was  granted.  They  were  also  allowed  to  make 
their  own  nominations  for  the  vacancies,  and  the  names  proposed 
were  elected.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  reorganized  Board, 
Dr.  Neill  [the  Corresponding  Secretary]  resigned  his  office. 
On  the  next  day,  the  8th  of  June,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Breckin- 
ridge was  elected  his  successor.  He  accepted,  upon  condition 
that  810,000  were,  in  the  first  place,  put  into  the  treasury; 
and  that  the  Board  should  make  it  the  basis  of  future  operations, 
*'  to  receive,  at  all  hazards,  every  fit  candidate,  who  may  come, 
regularly  recommended;  trusting  to  God  and  his  Church  to 
sustain  it  in  redeeming  the  pledge." 

"  These  conditions  were  complied  with,  and  the  policy  thus 
inaugurtited  by  Dr.  Breckinridge,  and  the  vigor  infused  into 
all  its  operations,  by  the  personal  energies  of  that  eminent  ser- 
vant of  Christ,  at  once  lifted  the  Board  out  of  the  depth  into 
which  it  had  fallen;  and  started  it  forward  on  a  career  of  pros- 
perity and  usefulness."^ 

In  1828,  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners,  which 
had  won  the  sincere  respect  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
had  relieved  the  latter  of  all  direct  agency  in  the  work  of 
foreign  missions,  expecting  to  turn  her  contributions  wholly 
into  its  own  treasury.  In  that  year  the  missions  of  the 
United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  which,  though  not 
denominational,  was  chiefly,  as  to  both  its  origin  and  sup- 
port, a  Presbyterian  institution,  the  Maumee  Mission  of  the 
Synod  of  Pittsburg,  and  the  Chickasaw  Mission  of  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolinia  and  Georgia,  were  all  transferred 
to  the  American  Board.  But  many  Presbyterians  mourned 
that  their  Church  was  no  longer  directly  engaged  in  this 
work  of  evangelizincr  the  heathen ;  and  it  was  evident  that 
the  New  Eno-land  orojanization,  hi^h  as  its  character  stood, 
could  never  command  the  entire  confidence  and  all  the  re- 

1  Hist,  of  New  School,  291,  2. 


198  TROUBLES    WITHOUT   AND    WITHIX.       [CH.  30.  1. 

sources  of  the  Presbyterian  body.  This  state  of  things 
produced  constant  uneasiness  and  a  variety  of  projects  for 
remedying  the  evil. 

The  subject  of  Foreign  as  well  as  that  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions engaged  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  of  1831.  On 
the  Gth  of  October,  1830,  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  had 
unanimously  adopted  a  paper  offered  by  the  Rev.  John 
Breckinridge,  lamenting  inexcusable  neglect  of  the  heathen 
world  on  the  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  resolving 
to  support,  as  a  presbytery,  one  missionary  at  least,  from 
year  to  year,  in  the  foreign  field.  A  circular  was  moreover 
issued  to  all  the  presbyteries,  and  about  twenty  of  them 
took  action  on  the  subject.  The  first  idea  was  simply  to 
operate  through  the  agency  of  the  American  Board.  Dr. 
John  H.  Rice,  passing  through  Baltimore  just  after  the 
adoption  of  Mr.  Breckinridge's  paper,  was  urged  by  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  Presbytery  to  write  something  on  this  sub- 
ject which  might  arouse  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church  to 
the  fulfilment  of  its  duty.  In  November,  he  wrote  to  Dr. 
Wisner,  then  Secretary  of  the  American  Board,  suggesting, 
at  once,  tlie  difficulty  of  bringing  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
as  a  whole,  into  hearty  cooperation  with  that  institution, 
and  the  idea  of  a  Presbyterian  branch  board,  connected 
witli  the  General  Assembly,  and  co-ordinate  with  the  orig- 
inal Board,  but  acting  in  union  and  perfect  harmony  with 
the  latter.  To  the  next  Assembly  he  sent,  from  his  dying 
bed,  an  overture  proposing  substantially  the  same  plan,  and 
also  earnestly  urging  upon  the  Church  its  duty  to  consider 
itself  a  missionary  society,  and  engage  heartily  in  the  work 
of  evangelizing  the  world.  But  the  only  result  in  the  As- 
sembly was  the  appointment  of  a  New  School  Committee 
of  Conference  with  the  American  Board — -not  a  very  en- 
couraging step  for  Dr.  Rice  and  those  who  agreed  with  him 
in  desiring  a  co-ordinate  Church  agency;  but  a  step  which, 
by  utterly  disiippointing  all  such  persons,  led  immediately 
to  the  resumption  by  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  of  the 
foreign  missionary  work,  and  to  the  formation,  under  its 
auspices,  of  "The  Western  Missionary  Society." 

l>y  this  Assembly  a  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Miller  was 
chairman,  was  ai)pointed  to  report  upon  the  validity  of 
Popish  baptisms,  a  subject  introduced  by  overture  from'  the 
Synod  of  New  York.     A  report  was  presented,  but  for 


1831.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  199 

want  of  time  referred  to  the  next  Assembly,  which  put  it 
into  the  hands  of  another  committee,  and  finally  into  those 
of  a  third,  with  Dr.  Alexander  as  chairman,  instructed  to 
report  the  following  spring.  To  the  Assembly  of  1833, 
Dr.  Alexander  wrote,  explaining  why  the  Committee  was 
not  prepared  with  a  report,  and  expressing  his  own  views 
as  follows : — 

'  I  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  that  there  will  probably  be 
no  favorable  result  from  the  continuance  of  this  Committee ;  or 
from  any  other  similarly  constituted  ;  and,  at  any  rate,  I  would 
request  that  some  other  person  may  be  appointed  the  chairman. 
Perhaps  it  will  be  found  most  expedient  not  to  press  this  ques- 
tion to  a  speedy  decision.  It  is  one  on  which  the  very  existence 
of  the  visible  Church  depends;  and  on  which  there  seems  to  be 
as  much  diversity  of  opinion  as  on  any  other  which  could  be 
named.  An  ecclesiastical  decision  would,  at  present,  be  at- 
tended with  very  unhappy  effects,  unless  the  subject  could  be 
exhibited  in  such  a  light,  as  to  produce  greater  unanimity  on 
one  side  or  the  other.  But,  at  present,  the  only  wise  and  peace- 
able course  is  to  leave  the  subject  open  for  discussion,  and  to 
permit  every  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  act  in  this 
case  agreeably  to  his  own  honest  convictions :  for  it  is  obvious 
that,  if  an  ordained  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  believes  that  a  per- 
son has  already  been  baptized,  he  cannot  conscieiitiously  re- 
peat the  ordinance ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  a  minister  is 
persuaded,  that  the  baptism  which  certain  persons  have  re- 
ceived, is  not  valid  Christian  baptism,  he  must,  in  accordance 
with  these  sentiments,  administer  this  sacrament  before  he  re- 
cognizes them  as  members  of  the  visible  Church.  And  it  is 
not  perceived  that  any  decision  of  this  General  Assembly  would 
afford  any  relief  in  the  case.  It  may  still  however  be  important 
to  keep  the  subject  before  the  ministers  and  churches,  until,  by 
discussion  and  inquiry,  what  is  now  perplexed  and  disputed 
may  become  clear.  I  would  therefore  respectfully  suggest,  that 
all  the  faculties  of  theological  seminaries,  within  the  limits  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  any  way  connected  with  any 
of  her  judicatories,  be  requested  to  inquire  into  this  subject; 
and  that,  as  soon  as  they  have  had  opportunity  maturely  to 
consider  the  question,  they  communicate  their  opinions  and 
reasonings  in  support  of  them  to  the  General  Assembly.' 

The  subject  was  then  committed  to  Dr.  Miller,  Dr.  Alex 
ander,  Dr.  Green,  Mr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  Mr.  Barnes,  Dr. 
Spring,  Dr.  McAuley,  and  Dr.  McCartee  to  report  upon 
to  the  next  Assembly ;  which,  on  their  report,  and  at  their 


200        TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN.   [CH.  30.  2. 

re<iiiest,  discharged  tliem  from  its  further  consideration. 
Dr.  Miller's  own  opinion  was  in  favor  of  acknowledging  the 
vahdity  of  the  baptisms  in  question.  He  regarded  the  pre- 
cedents of  the  early  Church,  the  decision  of  the  Reformers, 
and  sound  principle,  as  all  on  that  side.  Eleven  years  af- 
terwards, the  General  Assembly  decided  by  a  nearly  unani- 
mous vote — one  hundred  and  seventy-three  to  eight — 
against  such  baptisms ;  but  probably  Dr.  Alexander's  sug- 
gestion, that  the  consciences  of  ministers  Avould  find  little 
relief  in  any  ecclesiastical  decision  of  the  case,  has  been 
fully  justified  by  the  result:  doubtless  each  administrator 
of  the  ordinance  feels  it  necessary  to  regard  ctiiefly  his  own 
convictions,  and  those  of  the  other  parties  immediately  con- 
cerned. But  the  conscience  may  be  relieved,  where  the 
prior  administration  is  deemed  valid,  by  using  the  not  un- 
usual hypothetical  formula,  "If  thou  hast  not  been  bap- 
tized, I  baptize  thee,  etc."  ;  and  he  who  would  hesitate  to 
admit  to  Church  membership,  W'ithout  insisting  upon  re- 
baptism,  one  who  had  been  baptized  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  consci(?ntiously  objected  to  having  that  baptism  dis- 
credited, would  have  shut  out  John  Calvin  and  John  Knox 
from  the  Lord's  Table.  It  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
even  the  total  rejection,  for  conscience'  sake,  of  any  mere  rite, 
is  a  sullicicnt  ground  for  exclusion  from  Church  fellowship. 
We  have  seen  that  the  subject  of  church  boards  and 
voluntary  societies  occupied  a  much  longer  time  in  the 
Assembly  than  any  question  of  doctrine;  but  really  doc- 
trinal difterences  lay  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  other 
troubles  which  agitated  the  Church  and  its  judicatories. 
The  Christian  Spectator,  in  an  article  already  referred  to, 
published  just  before  the  Assembly's  meeting  in  1831,  said 
truly,  "the  real  question  at  issue  is,  whether  New  England 
Calvinism  shall  any  longer  be  tolerated  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  this  country."^ 

2.     After  the  Assembly. 

That  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Breckinridge  were  brought  nearer  to 
Princeton  was  one  of  the  mercies  of  this  year;  but  their 
now  trials  perhaps  overbalanced  all  the  pleasures  of  prox- 
imity to  her  parents.  Dr.  Breckinridge  afterward  referred 
to  their  change  of  residence  in  the  following  terms  : — 

'  Baird's  Ili^t.  of  the  New  School,  363. 


1831.]  AFTER   THE   ASSEMBLY.  201 

"It  was  in  leaving  the  latter  city  [Baltimore]  that  her  sacri- 
fices for  the  Church  more  especially  commenced.  At  this  event- 
ful period,  (the  summer  of  1831,)  it  was  found  that  there  were 
more  than  one  thousand  congregations  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  without  a  pastor,  not  to  mention  the  immeasurable  des- 
titution of  the  heathen  world.  To  supply  this  immense  demand 
required,  in  addition  to  the  very  inadequate  means  already  in 
use,  a  greatly  enlarged  and  quickened  effort  of  the  entire 
Church.  This  necessity  was  deeply  felt  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  1831,  and  led  to  the  reorganization  by  that  body  of  its 
Board  of  Education.  In  the  solemn  providence  of  God,  the 
writer  of  these  sketches  was  called  to  fill  the  oftice  of  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  and  General  Agent  for  that  Institution.  He 
found  it  impossible  to  resist  what  appeared  to  be  the  voice  of 
God  speaking  through  his  Church ;  though  in  yielding  to  it  he 
was  constrained  to  dissolve  forever  the  sacred  tie  which  bound 
him  to  a  beloved  people,  and  to  pass  from  the  endearments  of 
domestic  and  Pastoral  life,  to  incessant  toil  and  travel  in  the 
wdde  and  homeless  world.  She  foresaw,  and  with  keen  antici- 
pation felt,  all  the  trouble  which  such  a  step  must  bring  upon 
herself  and  her  little  household.  But  the  decision  of  all  her 
friends,  excepting  the  kind  people  we  were  about  to  leave,  was 
in  favour  of  removal.  She  remembered  her  Missionary  vows. 
She  saw  in  it  the  sweetness  as  well  as  the  severity  of  the  cross, 
and  without  a  murmur  meekly  bowed  to  the  burden  of  the 
Lord.  In  this  service,  which  continued  for  nearly  five  years, 
she  shared ;  and  like  an  angel  soothed  the  trials  of  the  work. 
The  comforts  of  domestic  life  were  almost  annihilated,  either 
by  incessant  separations,  or  the  nameless  discomfort  of  a  con- 
stant absence  from  home.  During  one  entire  year  her  house 
w^as  occupied  by  her  but  six  weeks,  the  rest  being  spent  in  hotels, 
and  boarding  houses,  and  steamboats,  and  stages,  with  occa- 
sional intervals  of  repose  in  the  bosom  of  related  or  attached 
families  scattered  through  the  wide  field  of  her  visits  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Hudson."^ 

Dr.  Miller  returned  home  from  the  Assembly  with  some- 
what modified  views  of  the  designs  of  the  New  School,  and 
of  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  therefrom.     To  the  Rev. 
Charles  C.  Beatty  he  wrote  as  follows : — 
;    '  My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  September  1,  1831. 

'Your  interesting  communication  of  August  10th 
reached  me  seven  or  eight  days  ago ;  and  I  should  have  an- 
swered it  before,  had  I  not  waited  in  vain,  until  this  morning, 

1  Memorial  of  Mrs.  Breckinridge,  pp.  48,  49. 
Vol.  II.— 18. 


202  TKOL'BLES    WITHOUT    AND    WITHIN.      [CH.  30.  2. 

for  a  vacant  hour,  in  which  I  could  sit  down^  with  some  degree 
of  tranquility,  and  reply  to  your  important  queries.  This  I 
shall  endeavor  now  to  do,  with  all  the  candour  and  impartiality 
of  which  I  am  capable.  Yet  I  must  be  brief;  for  several 
sheets  would  not  be  more  than  enough  to  exhibit,  at  length, 
the  feelings  and  views  which  I  should  be  disposed  to  express  on 
the  great  subject  contemplated  in  your  letter. 

*  In  the  first  place,  then,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  apprehen- 
sions of  danger,  felt  by  our  friends  of  the  Old  School,  are  well 
founded  !  There  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  crisis  at  hand.  We  have 
much  to  fear.  There  is  danger,  great  danger,  that  our  church 
will  be  overrun  with  error,  and  that  the  direction  and  instruc- 
tion of  Princeton,  and,  I  may  add,  of  every  other  place  and 
institution,  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  another  set  of  theologi- 
ans. I  am  fully  persuaded  that  the  fear  of  many  on  this  sub- 
ject is  no  chimera.  There  is  no  doubt  that  our  New  School 
brethren  are  earnestly  intent,  and  fully  determined,  on  the 
utmost  extent  of  mastery  and  triumph  ;  and  that  they  are 
likely  to  be  joined  by  so  many,  substantially  on  the  Old  School 
side,  who  are  entirely  unapprized ,  and  cannot  be  convinced 
of  their  purposes,  that  there  is  a  high  degree  of  probability 
they  will  carry  their  point,  unless  God,  in  his  adorable  provi- 
dence, should  mercifully  defeat  their  schemes,  by  either  caus- 
ing division  among  themselves,  or  by  opening  the  eyes  of  some 
who  cannot  yet  be  persuaded  there  is  any  danger.  They  are 
united  as  one  man,  while  we  are  split  up  into  groups  and 
parties.  They  are  as  persevering  as  they  are  united.  If  they 
do  not  succeed  at  the  next  General  Assembly,  they  will  not  be 
at  all  discouraged;  but  will  hold  on,  work  under  ground,  and 
compass  sea  and  land  to  attain  their  object ;  and,  speaking 
after  the  manner  of  men,  they  will  attain  it  ultimately,  and 
that  at  no  great  distance  of  time,  unless  the  friends  of  truth 
can  be  fairly  roused,  and  made  distinctly  to  see  the  danger,  and 
combine,  as  one  man,  to  prevent,  under  the  divine  blessing,  its 
being  realized.  It  is  not  too  late  yet  to  prevent  the  evil ;  but 
I  sec  no  prospect  of  the  sound  part  of  our  church's  being 
awake,  united,  and  firm  in  their  course  of  measures  to  avert 
the  threatened  conquest. 

'A  large  number  of  our  orthodox  ministers,  to  the  South 
and  West,  as  well  as  in  this  region,  sujjpose  that  the  brethren 
of  the  New  School,  or  at  least  the  great  body  of  them,  stand 
upon  the  o/cZ  New  England  ground  of  theology;  and,  although 
they  do  not  like  this,  yet  they  suppose  there  is  nothing  specially 
alarming  in  it — in  short,  that  there  is  no  new  danger :  whereas 

'  A  mcro  figure  of  speech,  as  Dr.  Miller  invariably  wrote  standing! 


1831.]  AFTER   THE    ASSEMBLY.  203 

there  are  recent  symptoms,  which  indicate  a  most  important 
and  essential  change  of  circumstances.  Three,  and  even  two 
years  ago,  the  devoted  adherents  of  Mr.  Finney,  and  the 
friends  of  New  Haven  theology  were  wide  apart — nay,  consid- 
ered as  decided  and  even  ardent  in  their  hostility;  and  the 
great  mass  of  the  old  Hopkinsians  of  jSTew  England  and  the 
western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York  formed  a  third  party 
equally  hostile  to  both  the  former.  But  now,  with  few  excep- 
tions, these  three  parties  are  firmly  united  in  policy  and  purpose 
to  put  down  Presbyterianism,  as  it  is  exhibited  in  our  public 
standards.  Can  this  possibly  be  doubted,  when  we  see  such  men 
as  Dr.  Beman,  Dr.  Taylor,  Mr.  Finney  and  Dr.  Kichards  as 
firmly  united  as  men  can  be  in  the  same  system  of  measures,  and 
burying  all  their  former  animosities  for  the  sake  of  acting  to- 
gether, and  carrying  their  points?  They  call  themselves  Pres- 
byterians, and  some  of  them  would  greatly  prefer  retaining 
that  title,  and  the  external,  general  form  of  government  which 
bears  the  name ;  but  anything  like  a  strict  and  faithful  mainte- 
nance of  our  doctrine  and  order,  as  manifested  in  our  book,  if 
I  do  not  altogether  mistake,  they  would  be  glad  to  see  pros- 
trated. And,  although  they  are  not  all  united  in  other  matters, 
I  am  entirely  deceived,  if  they  would  not  cordially  unite  in 
putting  down  Old  School  Presbyterianism,  and  taking  every 
institution  in  the  country  into  their  own  hands. 

'Do  you  ask,  Wiiat  can  and  ought  to  be  done?  My  reply 
is — (1)  Let  the  friends  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  of  Pres- 
byterianism be  aware  of  the  danger,  and  fully  awake  to  its 
reality  and  character.  (2j  Let  them  calmly,  humbly,  and 
prayerfully  preach  the  truth,  and  maintain  it,  not  in  a  pugna- 
cious and  irritating  manner,  but  mildly  and  firmly,  in  all  their 
public  and  private  acts,  especially  in  all  their  admissions  of 
young  men  to  license  and  ordination.  (3)  Let  them  show,  by 
their  indefatigable  labor  and  zeal,  that  they  are  real  friends  of 
revivals  of  religion,  which  many  of  the  New  School  brethren 
seem  to  wish  to  insinuate  is  not  the  case.  (4)  Let  them  treat  their 
New  School  brethren  mildly  and  aflTectionately,  difiering  from 
them  as  little  as  possible  in  other  matters,  and  guarding,  as 
much  as  possible,  against  all  exciting  and  dividing  measures, 
and  having  as  little  warfare  as  possible  consistently  with  regard 
to  the  truth. 

'  As  respects  the  great  question  which  the  General  Assembly 
has  referred  to  the  presbyteries  and  synods  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  respecting  the  missionary  business — I  am  per- 
suaded that  the  wisest  course  will  be  to  decline  appointing  any 
great  united  board  at  the  West,  and  to  let  things  remain  just  as 


204  TROUBLES    WITHOUT   AND    AVITIIIN.       [CH.  30.  2. 

they  are.    My  reasons  for  thinking  so  are  the  following :  (1)  To 
form  such  a  board  will  be  only  creating  another  source  of  con- 
flict and  strife.     If  it  should  be  composed,  as  it  doubtless  will, 
of  two  parties,  each  party  will  be  striving  for  the  mastery,  and 
it  will  be  a  constant  scene  of  quarrel  and  mutual  crimination. 
(2)  If  the  western  board  should  be  created,  and  should  consist, 
acknowledgedly,  of  a  majority  of  New  School  men,  the  Old 
School  men  at  the  East  will   not  be  willing  to  commit  their 
men  and  money  to  such  a  board,  and  will,  of  course,  have  less 
spirit  to  collect  money,  and  less  spirit  to  give  for  Expenditure  in 
the  West,  than  if  they  had  entire  confidence  in  the  western  board. 
On  the  contrary,  if  a  majority  of  that  board  should  consist  of 
Old  School  men,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  friends  of  the  Home 
^Missionary  Society  would  have  little  disposition  to  exert  them- 
selves to  put  either  money  or  men  into  the  hands  of  such  a 
board.     (3)  It  will  be  just  placing  the  Assembly's  Board  of 
INIissions  and  the  Home  Missionary  Society  in  the  situation  of 
the  Siamese  twins — tying  them  together  by  a  ligature  which 
can  only  hamper  and  impede  the  movements  of  each.     (4)  Our 
friends  at  the  West  must,  of  course,  depend  very  much  on  the 
churches  at  the  East  for  money  and  men  in  carrying  on  mis- 
sionary plans.     But  you  may  rely  upon  it,  if  a  great  western 
board  be  formed,  (tying  the  two  eastern  boards  together  as  to 
their  western  operations,)  less  money  and  fewer  men  will  be 
sent  to  the  West  than  will  be  likely  to  go  on  the  present  plan. 
If  each  board  be  left,  as  at  present,  to  pursue  its  own  course 
in  its  own  way,  you  may  rest  assured,  the  spirit  of  emulation 
will  create  more  liberality  in  giving,  and  there  will  be  a  greater 
amount  of  missionary  effort  than  can  possibly  be  hoped  for  on 
tlie  plan  of  amalgamation.     Unless  I  am  totally  deceived,  if 
the  amalgamation  plan  for  the  West  be  adopted,  both  parties 
here  to  the  East  will  find  their  zeal  cooled,  and  their  emulation 
diminished;  and  I  am  sure  that  many  Old  School  Presbyteri- 
ans will  immediately  withhold  their  funds,  as  not  likely  to  be 
disposed  of  by  a   body  in  which  they  can  have  entire   confi- 
dence.    (5)  One  great  reason  why  the  amalgamation  plan  in 
the  West  is  proposed  is,  that  all  further  contention  and  irrita- 
tion between  two  rival  boards  may  thenceforward  cease.     I  am 
persuaded  that  the  new  proposed  board  would  create  rather 
than  destroy  conflict  and  strife.     And  I  am  fully  convinced 
that  boards,  as  now  constituted,  need   not  quarrel,  and  would 
not  quarrel  if  their  respective  secretaries  and  executive  com- 
mittees in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  could  only  be  prevailed 
upon  to  be  (juiet.     I  have  no  doubt   that  all   the  Are  which 
exists  at  the  West  is  kindled  and  kept  up  by  men  here  at  the 


1831.]  AFTER    THE   ASSEMBLY.  205 

East,  and  chiefly  by  the  secretary  and  executive  committee  of 
the  Home  Missionary  Society,  who  have  been,  for  two  years, 
absolutely  persecuting  the  Assembly's  Board  to  agree  to  some 
plan  of  union. 

*  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  Barnes  question  wall  not  be 
brought  up  from  the  West  to  the  next  Assembly.  Such  a 
measure  could  do  harm  only,  and  not  good.  That  Assembly, 
even  if  composed  of  as  great  an  Old  School  majority  as  you 
have  ever  §een  together  for  ten  years,  would  not  give  a  deci- 
sion on  this  question  very  different  from  the  decision  of  the 
last  Assembly.  I  hope,  therefore,  you  will  discourage  such  a 
movement  by  all  the  means  in  your  power.  I  wish  I  could 
have  an  hour's  conversation  with  you  on  that  subject. 

In  the  month  of  September,  Dr.  Miller  attended  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  American  Board,  held  at  New 
Haven.  The  General  Assembly's  committee  of  conference, 
and  a  similar  committee  appointed  by  the  Board,  after 
joint  deliberation,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  in- 
expedient to  form  any  other  foreign  missionary  organiza- 
tion, but  that  the  Congregational,  Presbyterian,  and  Re- 
formed Dutch  Churches  ought  to  "give  to  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  their  cordial, 
united,  and  vigorous  support."  This  conclusion  was  re- 
ported to  the  Board,  when  Dr.  Miller  offered  the  following 
paper  as  an  addition  to  the  report : — 

"While  this  Board  accept  and  approve  the  foregoing  report, 
as  expressing  their  firm  opinion,  on  the  subject  referred  to  the 
Committee  of  Conference, 

"  Resolved^  That  if  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  or  any  of  its  subordinate  judicatories,  shall 
eventually  think  proper  to  form  any  association  for  conducting 
Foreign  Missions  separately  from  the  American  Board,  this 
Board  will  regard  such  association  with  fraternal  feelings,  and 
without  the  least  disposition  to  interfere  with  its  organization 
or  proceedings." 

This  paper  was  at  once  unceremoniously  rejected,  only 
two  persons,  Dr.  Spring  and  Dr.  Carnahan,  according  to 
Dr.  Miller's  recollection,  voting  in  its  favor.  Neverthe- 
less, to  the  Secretary  of  The  Western  Missionary  Society 
he  wrote,  soon  afterward,  as  follows : — 

*  Reverend  and  dear  Brother,        Princeton,  December  7,  1831. 

'I  received  your  communication  of  the  20th  of  November 

last,  accompanied  with  a  copy  of  the  Constitution  and  Address 

18* 


206        TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN.   [CH.  30.  2. 

of  the  "  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,"  and  informing 
me  of  my  election  as  an  honorary  vice-president  of  that  society. 
For  this  testimony  of  respect  and  confidence  I  feel  greatly  in- 
debted ;  and  although  I  fear  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  render 
any  important  services  to  the  Society ;  yet  I  accept  of  the  place 
to  which  I  have  been  elected  with  much  pleasure,  and  shall  be 
cordially  gratified  to  render  any  service,  which,  at  my  distance, 
and  in  my  declining  age,  may  be  practicable. 

'  In  declaring  this  acceptance,  allow  me  to  remind  you,  my 
dear  Sir,  that  I  am  a  member  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions,  and  a  sincere  and  ardent  friend 
of  that  institution  in  all  its  interests.  The  more  intimately  I 
become  acquainted  with  the  members  and  the  administration 
of  that  Board,  the  more  I  admire  its  wisdom,  fidelity  and  zeal ; 
and  the  more  deep  is  my  conviction,  that  there  is  not  a  missionary 
association  on  earth  conducted  with  more  sagacity,  prudence, 
energy,  perseverance  and  christian  disinterestedness ;  and  more 
entirely  worthy  of  the  affectionate  confidence  of  all  christian 
people.  Instead,  therefore,  of  wishing  any  diminution  of  the 
patronage  received  by  the  American  Board  from  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  I  could  cordially  wish  it  increased  fifty  fold. 
Nor  would  my  feelings  admit  of  my  lending  what  little  influence 
I  may  have,  to  any  plan,  the  object  of  which  should  be  to  im- 
pair in  the  least  degree  the  honor,  the  power,  or  the  patronage 
of  that  venerable  and  eminently  useful  institution. 

*  Yet  if  it  be,  as  I  suppose  it  to  be,  a  fact,  that  there  are  large 
portions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  may  be  much  more 
easily  and  eflfectually  roused  to  feeling  and  zeal  in  the  mis- 
sionary cause,  by  an  organized  body  within  their  own  bosom, 
and  of  their  own  ecclesiastical  denomination,  than  by  one  dif- 
ferently situated,  it  would  seem  reasonable  that  such  a  body 
should  be  forthwith  organized.  Nay,  more  than  this — if  there 
be  some  considerable  portions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  pious  and  intelligent  christians,  cannot  be 
really  roused  and  rallied  to  this  work,  in  any  good  degree,  at 
all,  by  a  l)oard  without  their  own  bounds,  and  not  of  their  own 
denomination ;  what  enlightened  and  disinterested  friend  of  the 
missionary  cause  would  hesitate  a  moment  to  say :  "  Let  efifectual 
measures  be  taken  to  accomplish  this  purpose  by  means  of  some 
other  organization?"  I  am  in  favor  of  the  earliest  and  most 
energetic  measures  i)ossible  for  rousing  the  whole  Presbyterian 
Church  to  a  cordial  co-operation  in  the  great  enterprise  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world.  And  my  wish  further  is,  that,  on  the 
one  hand,  all  those  ministers,  churches  and  judicatories  which 
prefer  the  American  Board  as  the  medium  of  their  missionary 


1831.]  AFTER    THE    ASSEMBLY.  207 

efforts,  should  adhere  to  that  Board,  and  redouble  their  prayers, 
exertions  and  pecuniary  liberality  in  its  behalf;  and,  on  the 
other,  that  all  those  ministers,  churches  and  judicatories  which 
prefer  an  ecclesiastical  board,  should  be  gratified  by  seeing  such 
an  one  formed,  and  a  treasury  opened  to  receive  their  most  liberal 
donations.  In  this  way,  I  am  persuaded,  the  missionary  spirit 
will  be  more  extensively  excited,  larger  contributions,  in  the 
aggregate,  to  this  hallowed  cause  received,  and,  of  course,  a 
greater  number  of  missionaries  sent  to  the  heathen.  Cordial 
and  warm  as  my  friendship  to  the  American  Board  is,  I  am  not 
prepared  to  say,  that  those  in  our  Church,  who  are  not  willing 
to  send  their  contributions  to  its  treasury,  should  have  no  other 
presented  into  which  to  cast  them. 

'  You  see  then,  my  dear  Sir,  the  principles  and  feelings  with 
which  I  accept  of  the  honour  you  have  conferred  upon  me :  Not 
with  a  view  to  encourage  a  hostile,  or  even  a  rival  board;  but 
to  express  my  approbation  of  a  plan  for  calling  into  life,  and 
into  vigorous  action,  a  beloved  and  affectionate  sister,  who  shall 
be  ready  to  receive  what  others  cannot  and  never  would  receive, 
and  to  do  what  others  cannot  do,  towards  promoting  that  great 
cause,  which  ought  to  be  equally  dear  to  us  all ;  and,  in  pro- 
moting which,  there  ought  to  be  no  other  strife  than,  who  shall 
love  it  most,  and  seek  its  advancement  with  the  most  active  zeal. 

'  Permit  me,  therefore,  to  close,  by  expressing  an  earnest  wish 
and  a  confident  hope,  that  your  new  board  will  pursue  its  object 
in  perfect  harmony  and  aflfectionate  co-operation  with  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners ;  that  when  the  latter  shall 
send  out  its  agents  to  the  AVest  as  well  as  to  the  East,  they  will 
neither  be  frowned  upon  nor  be  sent  empty  away;  and  that  that 
Board  will,  in  time  to  come,  receive  larger  contributions  than 
ever  from  the  Presbyterian  Church.  There  is  room  for  both. 
There  is  7ieed  of  both.  And  if  we,  on  all  sides,  exercise  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  there  will  be  greatly  more  good  done  by  both, 
than  could  possibly  be  done  by  either  alone. 

'  I  heartily  wish  you  God-speed ;  and  hope  we  shall  speedily 

hear  good  accounts  of  the  rising  missionary  spirit  of  the  West. 

*  Sincerely  and  respectfully  your  brother  in  Christ, 

Z'i:^^lIMTv.S.]  Samuel  Miller.- 

Here  are  extracts  from  Dr.  Miller's  diary,  two  a  little 
earlier  and  one  a  little  later  than  the  letter  just  given. 

'October  24,  1831.  This  day,  thirty  years  ago,  I  was  married. 
My  beloved  wife  and  myself  happening  both  to  be  at  home, 
(which,  since  my  connexion  with  the  Seminary  has  seldom  hap. 


208  TROUBLES   WITHOUT   AND    WITHIN.       [CH.  30.  2. 

pened,  the  day  always  coming  in  the  midst  of  our  vacation, 
commonly  spent  in  journeying,)  we  resolved  to  keep  it  as  a^day 
of  special  prayer.  If  ever  man  had  reason  to  be  thankful  for 
a  wife,  I  am  that  man.     *     * 

•October  31,  1831.  I  am  this  day  sixty-two  years  oi age.  I 
have  set  it  apart  as  a  season  of  special  prayer.  Surely  good- 
ness and  mercy  have  followed  me  all  the  days  of /my  life.  I 
have  enjoyed  better  health  during  the  past  year  than  for  many- 
years  before ;  and  have  been  enabled  to  labor  with  more  uni- 
formity, comfort,  and,  I  hope,  usefulness  than  usual.  Oh,  how 
shall  1  be  thankful  enough  for  these  mercies  ?     *     * 

•January  1, 1832.  Having  obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue 
to  this  day.  Not  only  is  my  life  spared  and  my  capacity  for 
labor  continued ;  but  I  enjoy  a  degree  of  improved  health 
which  is  a  wonder  to  myself.  I  have  felt  better,  been  more 
capable  of  my  usual  labors,  and  preached  more  frequently,  and, 
as  it  appeared  to  me,  with  more  vigor  and  ease,  the  last  year, 
than  for  ten  years  past.  Thanks  to  the  Giver  of  all  good ! 
And  I  would  especially  here  record  to  his  praise,  that  my  ex- 
periment in  leaving  off  the  use  of  all  stimulating  drinks  (even 
wine  and  cider)  has  proved  beneficial  beyond  my  most  san- 
guine expectations.  The  effect  of  this  change  on  my  general 
health  has  been  not  only  real  and  sensible,  but  very  great.  I 
feel  stronger ;  my  digestion  is  better ;  I  am  seldom  thirsty,  and 
seldom  feel  disposed  to  drink  even  water  at  my  meals.  The 
Lord  make  me  thankful  for  so  great  a  favor ;  and  dispose  me 
to  exert  myself  more  than  ever  for  recommending  and  spread- 
ing the  doctrine  of  total  abstinence  from  ardent  spirits,  and 
from  all  stimulating  drinks ! 

'N.  B.  The  doctrine  taught  by  some,  that  the  Bible  forbids 
all  use  of  wine  as,  per  se,  a  sin ;  that  it  allows  only  the  use  of 
the  fresh  and  unfermented  juice  of  the  grape;  and  that  the  use 
of  fermented  wine  ought  to  be  banished  from  even  the  Lord's 
Table,  and  a  kind  of  boiled  syrup  only  used,  I  hold  to  be  un- 
scriptural,  fanatical,  and  therefore  to  be  abhorred.  I  place  the 
duty  of  total  abstinence  on  the  principle  of  expediency;  that 
l)rinciple  which  is  recognized  in  Romans  xiv.,  especially  in  the 
21st  verse  of  the  chapter..  Considering  how  much  every  kind 
of  stimulating  drink  is  abused,  especially  by  young  people,  I 
resolve  to  set  the  example  of  abandoning  the  use  of  it  alto- 
gether. 

'What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  toward 
me?  How  shall  I  testify  my  gratitude  for  his  multiplied  and 
most  unmerited  favors?  I  would  this  day  make  a  new  and  un- 
reserved dedication  of  myself,  with  all  I  have  and  am,  to  Christ. 


1832.]  AFTER    THE   ASSEMBLY.  209 

I  would  resolve  (Oh  that  I  may  have  grace  given  me  to  make 
the  resolution  with  unfeigned  sincerity  and  humility,  and  to 
keep  it  faithfully)  to  be  henceforth  more  devoted  to  Christ  than 
I  have  ever  yet  been. 

'Eesolved  to-day — 

*  1.  To  be  more  careful  in  improving  my  time  than  heretofore ; 
and,  for  this  purpose,  to  avoid  all  useless  reading,  and  every 
kind  of  employment,  which  does  not  appear  adapted  to  promote 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

'  2.  To  ask  daily,  ^^Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  f"  and 
to  seek  to  know  my  duty,  whatever  labor  or  self-denial  it  may 
cost  me. 

*  3.  To  be  still  more  careful  than  heretofore  in  regard  to  my 
diet ;  guarding  against  every  kind  of  excess ;  and  endeavoring 
to  eat  and  drink,  not  to  gratify  the  flesh,  but  to  glorify  God, 
and  to  prepare  me  more  effectually  and  comfortably  to  do  his 
work. 

'  4.  That  I  will  try  to  be  more  plain,  faithful  and  pointed  in 
all  my  preaching. 

'  5.  That  I  will  strive  and  pray  to  be  enabled  to  make  a  more 
hallowed  and  salutary  impression  on  the  students  of  the  Semi- 
nary. Alas,  that  I  have  not  set  them  a  more  deeply  spiritual 
example ! 

'  6.  That  I  will  direct  more  attention  than  ever  to  the  eternal 
interests  of  my  children. 

'  7.  That  I  will  try  to  make  every  conversation,  in  which  I 
shall  engage,  during  the  year  on  which  I  have  entered,  as  use- 
ful as  possible. 

*  8.  That  I  will  direct  more  attention  than  I  have  ever  yet 
done  to  the  precious  cause  of  7nissions,  foreign  and  domestic. 

'  9.  That  I  will  endeavor  to  profit  more  by  the  deeply  spiritual 
and  admirable  example  of  my  ivife,  (for  the  gift  of  whom  I  have 
reason  forever  to  praise  God,)  during  the  coming  year,  than  I 
have  ever  yet  done. 

'  10.  That  I  will  hereafter,  as  God  shall  enable  me,  endeavor 
to  make  all  my  rides  and  journeys  subservient  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  my  fellow  men. 

*11.  That  I  will  hereafter  endeavor,  in  all  things,  to  regard 
myself  as  a  consecrated  man ;  as  not  my  own ;  and  as  bound 
unreservedly  and  forever  to  be  devoted  to  the  glory  of  God. 

*  O  thou  God  of  all  grace !  let  not  these  resolutions  be  insin- 
cere or  transient ;  but  may  they  be  adopted  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  under  a  due  sense  of  my  own  exceeding  weakness,  and 
with  an  humble  dependence  on  thy  grace  for  strength  to  keep 


210  TROUBLES    AVITIIOUT    AND    WITHIN.       [CII.  80.  2. 

them  :     May  the  Holy  Spirit  help  me !     May  thy  grace  fill  my 
heart  I' 

Under  date  of  January  4,  1832,  Dr.  Miller  received  from 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  of  New  York,  a 
copy  of  a  circular  letter,  setting  forth  the  services,  successes, 
nnd  need  of  the  Society,  and  soliciting  the  more  earnest 
and  liberal  co-operation  of  its  friends.  To  this  letter  he 
returned  the  following  answer  : — 
•Ilev'd  and  respected  Brethren,    Princeton,  January  9th,  1832. 

*  I  received,  by  due  course  of  mail,  your  communication  of 
the  4th  inst.,  giving  me  an  account  of  the  course  and  the  present 
exigencies  of  your  society,  and  requesting  in  its  behalf  my  pray- 
ers, my  influence,  and  my  pecuniary  aid.  I  have  bestowed  upon 
this  commuuication  all  that  serious  and  respectful  attention, 
Avhich  my  personal  regard  for  the  gentlemen  who  signed  it,  and 
my  deep  impression  of  the  importance  of  your  society,  could 
not  fail  to  inspire. 

*  I  made  myself  a  life  member  of  your  society  a  very  short 
time  after  its  formation;  and  have,  repeatedly,  since  that  time, 
testified  my  desire  to  promote  its  interests,  by  such  contributions 
to  its  funds,  and  such  other  efforts  in  its  favor,  as  my  limited 
nieans,  connected  with  the  numerous  calls  made  upon  me  for 
public  objects,  rendered  practicable.  And  it  is  still  my  desire 
and  purpose,  if  your  course  shall  permit  me,  to  go  on  to  con- 
tril)ute  as  much,  annually,  to  your  treasury,  as  my  indispensable 
duty,  in  regard  to  many  other  calls,  shall  permit. 

*It  is  but  candid,  however,  to  confess,  that,  for  more  than  a 
year  past,  the  posture  of  affairs  between  the  General  Assembly's 
Board  of  Missions  and  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society, 
has  been  with  me  a  subject  of  deep  solicitude,  and  a  source  of 
no  small  embarrassment.  The  nature  of  this  solicitude  and 
embarrassment  I  think  it  my  duty,  in  replying  to  your  com- 
munication, with  all  frankness,  to  unfold. 

'The  prejudice  which  many  cherish  against  voluntary  associa- 
tions has  no  place  in  my  mind.  AYhen  your  Society  was  formed 
as  a  voluntary  association,  I  approved  of  the  measure  and  re- 
joiced in  it:  I  cordially  approve  and  rejoice  in  it  still.  A  vol- 
untary association  is,  in  my  o])inion,  adapted  to  move  in  a 
peculiar,  untrammeled  and  highly  important  sphere  of  duty. 
It  may  gain  access  to  many  places,  and  accomplish  many  things, 
whicli  an  ecclesiastical  board  could  not  do,  and  perhaps  ought 
not  t')  attemi)t;  audit  may  also  expect  to  be  approved  and 
su.stained  by  many  who  have  no  disposition  to  patronize  eccle- 
siastical boards.     There  is,  I  am  persuaded,  in  the  present  state 


1832. j  AFTER  THE  ASSEMBLY.  211 

of  the  Church  and  the  world,  both  room  and  need  of  such  asso- 
ciations, over  and  above  all  the  ecclesiastical  boards  which  have 
been  formed,  or  are  likely  to  be  formed,  by  any  or  all  of  the 
evangelical  denominations  in  the  United  States.  And  when  to 
these  considerations  I  add  the  important  service  which  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  has  rendered  in  extending 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom  in  our  country,  by  aiding  so  many 
weak  churches,  and  organizing  so  many  new  ones ;  and  the  good 
which  it  is  likely  still  to  do ;  I  cannot  help  considering  it  as  an 
important  institution,  which  ought  to  be  regarded  with  deep 
interest  by  the  friends  of  religion  in  the  United  States,  and  to 
be  liberally  sustained. 

'While  I  say  this,  however,  and  can  declare  myself  to  be, 
ex  animo,  a  decided  and  warm  friend  to  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  and  unfeignedly  desirous  of  seeing  it  prosper ; 
and,  while  I  can  further  declare,  that  I  in  no  degree  partici- 
pate in  the  feelings  of  those,  who  consider  voluntary  associa- 
tions as  inconsistent  with  the  prosperity  of  the  Church,  and 
who,  on  that  account,  desire  to  see  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  put  down,  or  enfeebled:  I  say,  while  I  in  no 
degree  participate  in  these  feelings,  or  counsels,  I  am  constrained, 
at  the  same  time  to  confess,  that  the  course  pursued,  for  more 
than  a  year  past,  by  some  of  the  leading  members  of  your  So- 
ciety, in  urging,  with  so  much  pertinacity,  first,  an  amalgamation, 
and,  afterwards,  some  kind  of  connection,  with  the  Assembly's 
Board  of  Missions,  has  been  regarded  by  me  with  deep,  and  in- 
creasing regret.  However  favorably  I  may  have  viewed  some 
plan  of  this  sort,  when  first  proposed ;  and  however  willing  I 
may  have  been  in  the  beginning,  from  a  love  of  peace,  to  con- 
sent to  some  form  of  connection ;  yet  the  longer  the  plan  was 
pursued,  under  various  modifications,  the  more  I  became  con- 
vinced of  its  impracticability;  and  I  am  now  perfectly  satisfied, 
that  connecting  the  two  together,  in  any  ivay,  would  be  productive 
of  far  more  harm  than  good;  and  that  every  enlightened  friend 
to  each  ought  to  wish  that  they  might  remain  perfectly  separate : 
each  independently  of  the  other  pursuing  its  own  course,  moving 
in  its  own  sphere,  looking  to  its  own  patrons,  and  seeking  to  do 
good  in  its  own  appropriate  department ;  w  ithout,  in  the  least 
degree,  interfering  with  the  other.  In  this  way,  I  am  persuaded 
that  both  will  move  with  most  ease,  with  most  comfort,  with  the 
highest  degree  of  public  acceptance,  and  with  most  benefit  to 
the  great  interests  of  our  common  Saviour.  Some  little  embar- 
rassment may,  indeed,  now  and  then  occur,  even  upon  this  plan, 
in  spite  of  every  thing  that  can  be  done  to  prevent  it,  since 
everything  human  is  imperfect;  but  I  can  no  longer  doubt, 


212        TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN.   [CH.  30.  2. 

that  if  the  friends  and  agents  of  each  could  be  induced  to  pursue 
such  a  course  as  I  have  described,  a  course  entirely  separate 
and  yet  entirely  friendly,  there  would  be  greatly  more  evil 
avoided  and  good  done,  than  upon  any  plan  of  union  that  could 
be  devised. 

'This  is  the  course,  I  am  well  persuaded,  which  the  great 
body  of  the  friends  of  the  Assembly's  Board  of  Missions  wish 
it  to  pursue,  and  by  the  adoption  of  which,  I  cannot  for  a  mo- 
ment doubt,  it  would  gain  strength  instead  of  losing  it. 

'Such,  my  reverend  and  highly  respected  Brethren,  are  the 
principles  on  Avhich  I  am,  and  can  continue  to  be,  a  decided 
and  warm  friend  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society ; 
and  on  which  I  may  be  expected  to  exert  myself  in  its  favor, 
as  far  as  my  many  cares,  numerous  calls,  and  declining  age  will 
allow.  But  if  your  Society  should  continue  to  pursue  the  object 
of  union,  or  connexion  in  any  form,  with  the  Board  of  Missions, 
and  should  continue  to  importune  the  Assembly,  or  the  Board 
for  that  purpose;  and,  by  this  importunity,  to  disturb  the  har- 
mony of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  it  will  be  impossible  for 
me,  with  my  views  of  duty,  to  approve,  or  participate  in,  such 
a  course. 

'If,  while  I  hold  and  avow  these  principles,  you  should  think 
proper  to  continue  my  name  on  the  list  of  your  vice-presidents, 
or,  in  any  humbler  place,  on  the  list  of  your  friends  and  officers, 
it  will  give  me  pleasure,  and  be  regarded  as  an  honor.  But  if, 
after  this  exposition  of  my  views  and  feelings,  you  should  be  of 
the  opinion,  that,  with  such  views,  I  cannot  any  longer  consist- 
ently remain  a  member  and  officer  of  your  Society,  I  certainly 
shall  not  object  to  your  taking  the  first  opportunity  of  removing 
my  name  from  the  place  which  it  occupies.  It  will  give  me, 
indeed,  much  pain  to  be  separated  from  the  Home  Missionary 
Society ;  for  I  really  love  it,  and  wish  its  prosperity ;  but,  if  its 
policy  and  course  should  be  materially  different  from  that  which 
I  have  recommended,  I  am  conscientiously  persuaded,  it  will 
not  ])e  in  my  power  to  render  it  the  least  service. 

'  I  am,  Gentlemen,  with  great  regard, 

*Your  friend  and  fellow-servant, 

'Samuel  Miller.' 

Dr.  Miller  delivered  the  7th  of  the  "  Spruce  Street  Lec- 
tures" of  the  winter  of  1831-2,  on  the  evening  of  the 
12th  of  February.  His  subject  was  "Ecclesiastical  Polity," 
his  text  1  Peter  v.  1,  2.  3.  These  Lectures  were  after- 
ward published  in  a  single  volume. 

*'The   Presbyterian    Preacher,"    commenced    at   Pitts- 


1832.]  AFTER   THE   ASSEMBLY.  213 

burgh  in  June,  1832,  presented,  as  its  first  sermon,  one  of 
Dr.  Miller's  entitled  "  The  Importance  of  Gospel  Truth."^ 

In  1832,  also  Dr.  John  Breckinridge,  as  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education,  published  a  small 
volume,  entitled  "  The  Annual  of  the  Board  of  Education," 
intended  especially  for  its  candidates,  and  composed  of 
essays  designed  to  profit  them.  Dr.  Miller's  contribution^ 
■vvas  taken  chiefly  from  his  introductory  lecture  of  .three 
years  before,  which  has  been  already  mentioned.  In  the 
same  year,  he  likewise  contributed  a  long  letter  to  Dr. 
Sprague's  well  known  Lectures  on  Revivals. 

The  Bev'd  John  B.  Pinney  and  the  Rev'd  Joseph  W. 
Barr,  both  from  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  were  two  of 
the  first  missionaries  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  They  had  been  ordained  on  the  12th  of  October, 
1832,  Dr.  Miller  o-ivinsithe  charo;e  to  them  as  evancrelists  ; 
and  they  were  about  to  sail  for  Africa,  when  the  latter 
died — only  sixteen  days  after  his  ordination — at  Richmond, 
Virginia.  Having  just  parted  from  his  fellow-students, 
he  seemed  to  speak  loudly  in  his  death  to  them,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  improve  the  occasion  by  a  sermon 
which  Dr.  Miller  preached  in  the  Seminary.^ 

This  sermon  was  published  by  the  Society,  with  a  me- 
moir of  Mr.  Barr,  and  after  sending  the  manuscript.  Dr. 
Miller  wrote  to  the  Rev.  Elisha  P.  Swift,  Corresponding 
Secretary,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1832, 

'I  think  if  Dr.  Alexander  were  urgently  applied  to,  he 
would  prepare  an  interesting  and  valuable  Preface.  I  advise 
that  you  request  it  of  him.  If  he  declines,  and  you  wish  it,  I 
will  try  to  prepare  something  short  of  that  kind.  But  do  not 
intimate  to  him  the  alternative  of  my  doing  it,  or  else  (such  is 
his  enormous  modesty^  he  will  certainly  decline." 

To  Mr.  Nettleton  he  wrote  on  the  8th  of  November, 
1832, 

'  The   Board   of  Education   of  the  General  Assembly  was, 

1  John  xvii.  17.— 8vo.     Pp.  16. 

2 ''The  Importance  of  a  Thorough  and  Adequate  Course  of  Preparatory 
Study  for  the  Gospel  Ministry.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Eccle- 
siastical History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton."— 24mo.     Pp.  41. 

3  "  The  Dead  Speaking.     A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Oratory  of  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  November  18th,  1832,  on  occasion  of 
the  death   of  the    Rev.  Joseph  W.  Barr,  Missionary  to  Africa.     By  Samuel 
Miller.  D.D.,  Professor  in  said  Seminary." — Heb.  xi.  4. — 24mo.     Pp.  .31. 
Vol.  II.— 10. 


214  TROUBLES    WITHIN    AND    WITHOUT.       [CH.  30.  2. 

last  year,  remodelled,  revived,  and  put  under  the  immediate 
a^enev  of  my  son-in-law,  Mr.  Breckinridge.  Since  that  time, 
it'^has' pleased  God  to  smile  upon  it  in  a  very  remarkable  man- 
ner; so  that  it  has  now  between  three  and  four  hundred  bene- 
ficiaries under  its  care ;  and  the  number  is  almost  daily  in- 
creasing'. 

'Mr.  Breckinridge  and  the  other  friends  of  this  Board  are 
more  and  more  persuaded,  that  the  training  of  the  young  men 
to  ardent  piety,  and  as  to  all  that  part  of  their  furniture  that 
may  be  eminently  called  the  practical  part,  is  unspeakably- 
more  important  than  it  lias  been  heretofore  commonly  viewed. 
It  has,  therefore,  occurred  to  them,  that,  if  an  experienced 
brother  were  employed  and  authorized  to  visit,  at  least  once  in 
every  year,  and  as  much  oftener  as  circumstances  might  admit, 
all  the  seminaries,  colleges,  and  academies,  in  which  their  bene- 
ficiaries are  located,  and  to  have  faithful  and  affectionate  pas- 
toral interviews  with  them,  the  effects  might  be  salutary,  and 
exceedingly  important  to  the  interests  of  religion  in  the  United 
States.  AVould  not  this  be  a  species  of  service  as  likely  to  be 
truly  and  extensively  useful  as  any  other  that  could  well  be 
devised  ?  They  are  deeply  anxious  that  the  experiment  should 
be  made;  and  their  minds  have  been  unanimously  turned  to 
you,  as  the  most  suitable  person  within  the  circle  of  their 
acquaintances  to  be  engaged  in  this  interesting  service.  And, 
if  you  can  give  the  Board  of  Education  the  least  encourage- 
ment that  you  may  be  persuaded  to  engage  in  it,  you  will  be 
aj^pointed  forthwith. 

'My  dear  Brother,  do  not  hastily  say,  No !  to  this  sugges- 
tion. I  know  that  you  are  prone  to  shrink  from  plans,  which 
would  constrain  you  to  place  yourself  in  stations  of  prominence 
and  responsibility.  But  can  you  conscientiously  refuse  to  un- 
dertake a  service  of  such  vital  importance  to  the  forming  min- 
istry of  our  country?  and,  through  them,  to  the  interests  of 
true  religion?  Turn  the  subject  in  your  mind.  Commit  it  to 
the  Lord,  as  we  do,  in  humble  prayer.  If  the  precise  form  or 
aspect,  under  which  I  have  presented  it,  does  not  strike  you 
favorably,  propose  some  other  that  does.  And  remember,  that, 
if  you  will  consent  to  engage  in  the  service,  you  may  give  it 
that  shape,  denomination,  and  aspect,  which  may  be  most 
agreeable  to  your  own  views  of  duty  and  usefuness.  Or,  if 
you  would  be  willing  to  engage  for  any  time,  longer  or  shorter, 
in  paying  the  pastoral  visits  proposed,  without  a  publicly  re- 
cognized commission  for  that  purpose,  yet  sustained  by  the 
Board  in  your  labours,  say  so,  and  your  inclination  will  be 
most  respectfully  consulted.' 


1832.]  the  general  assembly.  215 

3.  The  General  Assembly  of  1832. 

In  the  General  Assembly  of  1832,  the  New  School  party 
had  still  the  preponderance,  as  also  in  the  Assemblies  of 
1833  and  1831.  This  fact  proves  how  successfully  a  large 
minority  of  the  Church,  may,  under  able  leaders  and  by 
skillful  mangement,  secure,  for  a  considerable  time  at 
least,  absolute  control  in  its  highest  judicatory.  The 
chief  matter  of  party  discussion,  in  1832,  was  the  acti(  -. 
of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  regard  to  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Assembly  of  1831,  that  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  should  be  divided  in  the  way  best  calculated  to 
promote  the  peace  of  its  ministers  and  churches.  The 
majority  of  that  presbytery  asked  for  a  geographical  divi- 
sion by  the  line  of  Market  street  ;  the  New  School  party, 
that  a  presbytery  should  be  formed  of  certain  churches 
and  ministers,  whose  New  School  affinities  and  sympathies 
led  them  to  elect  each  other  as  presbyterial  associates — an 
"  elective  affinity"  presbytery.  The  Synod,  after  consid- 
erable discussion,  decided,  as  no  doubt,  in  the  discretion 
allowed,  it  had  a  right  to  do,  that  any  division  of  the 
Presbytery  was  inexpedient.  Of  this  decision  some  of  the 
New  School  presbyters  complained  to  the  Assembly;  while 
others  presented  a  petition  that  the  supreme  judicatory 
itself  would  effect  the  division.  The  complaint  was  wrong- 
fully sustained,  and  "  The  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia" was  formed,  upon  the  elective  affinity  principle,  as 
a  safe  harbour  for  New^  School  men.  The  Assembly, 
doubtless,  has  a  ri_2;ht  to  form  presbyteries,  because  its 
powers  are  not  conferred,  but  only,  in  a  degree,  restricted, 
by  the  Form  of  Government;  but  the  latter,  in  defining  a 
presbytery  as  composed  "of  all  the  ministers,  and  one 
ruhjior  elder  from  each  cono-reojation,  within  a  certain  dis- 
trict,''  clearly  excludes  the  idea  of  elective  affinity.  Never- 
theless the  Synod  should  have  submitted  :  a  decision  of 
the  General  Assembly,  on  any  subject,  is  necessarily  final, 
until  regularly  set  aside  by  the  same  or  a  subsequent  As- 
sembly— final,  excepting  as  contumacy  may  refuse  obedi- 
ence, or  revolution  throw  off  authority.  The  Synod,  con- 
tumaciously therefore,  though  in]  very  respectful  language, 
refused  to  recognize  the  Second  Presbytery. 


216  TROUBLES    WITHOUT    AND    WITHIN.       [CII.  30.  4. 

4.  Death  of  Edward  Millington  Miller. 

The  year  1832  was  a  sad  one  in  the  family  annals. 
Edwa^r  Millington,  the  second  surviving  son,  had  been 
graduated,  honorably,  the  previous  September,  at  the  age 
of  seventeen,  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey;  and,  with  the 
hirrhest  hopes  and  aspirations,  and  much  promise,  entered, 
in°  April  of  this  year,  upon  the  study  of  law,  in  the 
office  of  his  uncle,  the  Honorable  John  Sergeant,  of  Phil- 
adelphia. In  that  city,  he  took  up  bis  abode  with  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Breckinridge,  and  every  arrangement  for  the 
happy  prosecution  of  a  course  of  professional  training 
seemed,  in  God's  good  providence,  complete.  If  there 
were  any  favorites  in  the  household,  he  certainly  was  one, 
on  account  of  his  sprightliness,  the  comparative  excellence 
of  his  mental  endowments,  and  a  dashing,  adventurous 
spirit,  which  was  interesting  to  others,  though  full  of  dan- 
ger to  himself.  He  gave  no  evidence,  at  this  time,  of  a 
renewed  heart ;  all  his  aspirations  and  tastes  were  for  the 
world ;  and,  doubtless,  the  prospect  of  his  exposure  to  the 
temptations  of  a  city  life  had  caused  great  anxiety  to  his 
parents.  But  the  circumstances  in  which  he  thus  com- 
menced studying  law  were  such  as  to  relieve,  in  a  good 
measure,  their  fears  ;  and,  though  his  health  had  not  been 
entirely  vigorous,  the  danger  really  nearest  they  had,  per- 
haps, comparatively  little  apprehended.  He  had  been  but 
a  week  in  the  city,  when  he  was  attacked  by  measles,  and 
this  disease  ended  in  consumption  and  his  speedy  decline. 
As  soon  as  possible,  he  was  brought  back  to  Princeton. 
Every  means  that  affection  and  skill  could  devise  was 
employed  for  his  restoration,  but  in  vain.  Medicine, 
dietetic  prescriptions,  exercise  and  travel  were  alike  un- 
availing. He  was  not  entirely  without  those  flattering 
liopcs  which  so  generally  attend  the  progress  of  this  almost 
hopeless  disease  ;  yet,  from  the  first,  he  lost  his  sprightliness 
and  gaiety,  and  shrank  away  from  company  and  mirth  ;  he 
sometimes  prognosticated  a  fatal  result;  and  seemed  ra- 
tio!ially  convinced  of  the  importance  of  making  his  peace 

•       1  /^  T  XT  ^  ■^ 

With  b-od.  He  was,  however,  very  taciturn  as  to  his  reli- 
gious convictions,  and  for  a  long  time,  when  he  did  express 
himself  on  this  subject,  simply  acknowledged  his  danger, 
but  added,  that  he  could  not  fed  alarmed.     In  fact,  his  com- 


1832.]       DEATH    OF    EDWARD    MILLINGTON    MILLER.  217 

posure,  when  he  talked  about  himself  and  the  likelihood  of 
his  approaching  death,  was  wonderful ;  though  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  partly  as  the  effect  of  languor  from  disease, 
of  pride,  and  of  a  measure  of  self-command,  and,  in  part, 
as  founded  on  that  insensibility  of  the  natural  heart,  from 
which  God's  Spirit  alone  can  effectually  awaken.  He 
would  tell,  with  the  utmost  coolness,  and  almost  with  seem- 
ing indifference,  what  one  and  another  heartless,  or 
strangely  boorish  young  man  of  his  acquaintance  would 
say  to  him  : — "  Why,  Ned,  how  badly  you  look !  Are  you 
going  into  consumption?"  Or,  "Have  your  friends  any 
hope  of  your  recovery?" 

About  the  middle  of  July,  alarming  hemorrhage  from 
the  lungs  supervened,  and  at  intervals,  afterwards,  re- 
turned with  increasing  profuseness.  The  scenes  of  his 
sick  chamber,  particularly  at  the  time  of  these  attacks, 
were  full  of  sadness,  yet  such  as  became  a  christian  house- 
hold. One  of  them  is  recalled  to  mind  by  a  nearly  con- 
temporaneous record.  He  was  sitting  up  in  bed,  spitting 
blood  freely,  himself  agitated,  but  perhaps  not  so  much  so 
as  the  other  members  of  the  family,  who  had  flown  to  his 
room,  in  alarm,  and,  while  waiting  for  the  physician  hur- 
riedly sent  for,  were  administering  such  styptics  as  were  at 
hand.  As  soon  as  a  few  moments  could  be  seized  for  the 
purpose,  all,  excepting  those  immediately  engaged  in  wait- 
ing upon  him,  were  kneeling  about  the  room,  while  from  a 
father's  heart,  too  full  of  agitating  emotion  for  entire  self- 
command,  was  poured  forth  a  fervent  prayer  for  his  relief, 
and  his  soul's  salvation. 

As  the  disease  advanced,  he  became  more  communica- 
tive in  resfard  to  his  relig-ious  feelinojs,  often  desiring  the 
Bible  to  be  read  to  him,  hymns  to  be  sung  and  prayers  to 
be  offered.  Singing,  especially,  was  a  great  comfort  to 
him,  as  to  many  others  it  has  been  in  a  like  situation — to 
him  the  rather,  because  he  had  been  a  good  singer  himself, 
and  in  the  sacred  songs  of  the  household  had  always  taken 
a  natural  delight.  He  frequently  asked  for  the  hymn — 
"Rock  of  ages,  etc.",  seeming  to  join  in  it  heartily  with 
all  but  his  voice,  which  had  been  long  unequal  to  the  task  : 
especially  the  lines, 

"J^otuing  in  my  hand  I  bring, 
Simply  to  thy  cross  I  cling; — " 

19* 


218        TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN.   [CH.  30.  4V 

seemed  strongly  to  interest  him.  For  some  time,  lie  was 
in  deep  spiritual  dejection,  and  when  his  mother  found  him 
weeping,  and  asked  tenderly,  "What  is  the  matter?"  he 
answered,  *'0h,  I  am  in  such  darkness!"  But  a  little 
later,  he  hecame  comforted  in  a  trembling  hope,  that  he 
had  obtained  an  interest  in  the  peace-speaking  blood  of 
Jesus.  Now  he  was  anxious,  not  to  live,  but  only  to  be 
assured  of  his  preparation  for  death. 

From  New  York,  on  the  27th  of  October,  his  father 
wrote  to  him, 

I  '  found  that  kind  and  hospitable  reception  at  ^Ir.  Strong's 
■which  his  early  and  uniform  friendliness  led  me  to  expect. 
But,  amidst  all  the  kind  attention  of  friends,  my  thoughts  are 
in  Princeton,  and  especially  employed  about  my  dear,  afflicted 
Edward.  You  have  scarcely  been  out  of  my  mind  for  fifteen 
minutes  together  since  I  left  home. 

'  I  know  from  experience,  my  dear  Son,  what  it  is  to  lie,  day* 
after  day,  upon  a  sick  bed,  and  to  feel  all  the  tedium  and  weari- 
ness of  such  confinement ;  and  I  have  also,  I  trust,  experienced 
something  of  the  aid  and  consolation  which  may  be  drawn,  in 
these  circumstances,  from  prayer  and  humble  confidence  in 
God.  May  you  enjoy  the  same  aid  and  consolation.  I  trust 
you  have  been  enabled  to  renounce  all  dependence  on  any  thing 
you  have  done,  or  can  do,  and  to  place  your  entire  reliance 
upon  the  atoning  sacrifice  and  merit  of  him  who  came  to  take 
away  the  sin  of  the  world.  Pray  without  ceasing,  my  dear 
Son,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  give  you,  day  by  day,  clearer 
views  of  your  own  sinfulness  and  unworthiness,  and  also  of  the 
glory,  the  excellence,  and  the  willingness  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour. 
Pray  that  you  may  be  more  and  more  delivered  from  all  dreams 
of  self-righteousness,  and  be  enabled  more  simply  and  humbly 
to  repose  all  your  confidence  in  the  atonement  and  intercession 
of  the  blessed  Redeemer.  Try  to  come,  with  the  spirit  of  a  lit- 
tle child,  that  you  "may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help 
in  time  of  need." 

*  You  cannot  but  know,  my  dear  Son,  that  your  situation  is 
one  of  extreme  peril.  I  say  not  this  to  fill  you  with  needless 
alarm  ;  but  with  all  the  fidelity  of  an  affectionate  father,  who 
desires  more  than  he  can  express  your  restoration  to  health ; 
yet  desires  far  more — infinitely  more — your  preparation  for  the 
divine  will  whatever  it  may  be.  That  preparation,  I  cherish 
the  hope,  you  have  in  good  earnest  begun.  God  grant,  that 
you  may  have  more  and  more  evidence  that  you  possess  "a 
good  hope  through  grace"  ! 


1832.]      DEATH    OF    EDWARD    MILLIjSGTON    MILLER.  219 

'Try,  my  dear  Son,  more  and  more  to  get  rid  of  your  reserve 
on  this  great  subject.  It  has  pleased  God  to  give  you  a  mother, 
who  not  only  loves  you  dearly,  but  who  is  also  abundantly  ca- 
pable of  instructing  you,  praying  with  you,  and  answering  all 
your  anxious  inquiries.  Be  not  backward  to  tell  her  your 
whole  heart,  and  to  pour  out  the  fulness  of  your  feelings  and 
views  without  reserve.  It  may  enable  her  to  speak  to  you  with 
far  more  appropriateness  and  usefulness  than  if  you  withhold 
from  her  such  communications. 

*  May  the  God  of  all  grace  bless  you,  my  dear  Son  !  May  he 
more  and  more  enlighten  your  mind  by  his  gracious  Spirit,  and 
make  the  Saviour  precious  as  the  Lord  your  righteousness  and 
the  Lord  your  strength ! 

*  Your  affectionate  father, 

'Sam'l  Miller.' 

Edward  lingered  until  the  13th  of  November.  As  the 
end  approached,  Mrs.  Miller's  anxiety  for  his  spiritual 
welfare  increased.  In  making  some  private  memoranda, 
after  his  death,  she  wrote, 

'The  last  night  of  his  life,  I  determined  and  endeavoured  to 
imitate,  in  my  measure,  the  wrestling  prayer  of  Jacob,  which  is 
recorded  for  an  example  to  the  people  of  God  in  all  genera- 
tions. I  had  a  piece  of  sewing,  *  *  with  which  I  deter- 
mined to  employ  my  hands,  when  sleep  might  threaten  to  be 
irresistible ;  *  "^  and  I  found  that  prayer  was  helped  and 
not  hindered  by  this  means.  My  wrestling  spirit  seemed  not 
to  relax  ;  and,  although  I  found  myself  growing  bewildered  and 
weary,  ideas  and  words  failing,  there  was  enough  strength  left 
to  say,  "I  v/ill  not  let  thee  go  except  thou  bless  me" ;  and  I 
had  a  sort  of  superstitious  feeling,  that,  if  I  held  on  until  it 
could  be  said,  "The  day  breaketh,"  I  should  prevail.  One 
thought  began  to  trouble  me :  If  I  should  sink  under  this  ex- 
ertion, the  poor  sick  child'would  be  alone,  without  strength  to 
make  himself  heard,  even  if  he  were  dying.  The  conflict,  how- 
ever, was  soon  determined.  He  seemed  to  have  an  intuitive  im- 
pression of  my  struggle ;  and  he  called  me  about  four  or  five 
o'clock,  and  said,  "Mother,  you  will  wear  yourself  out:  do  go 
to  bed  and  send  D —  to  me."  Upon  my  objecting,  he  added, 
with  a  sort  of  confident  assurance,  "Try  it — try  it."  These 
words  overruled  my  purpose,  and,  after  helping  to  remove  him 
to  the  other  bed,  I  retired  to  mine.' 

A  few  hours  afterward,  she  was  hastily  summoned  to  re- 
ceive his  dying,  but,  as  she  learned  even  before  she  reached 
the  bed-3ide,  his  rejoicing  breath.     About  breakfast  time, 


220        TROUBLES  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN.   [CH.  30.  4. 

the  doctor  came  in  and  said  that  he  was  probably  dying. 
The  family  were  very  soon  assembled  in  the  chamber  of 
death:  and  his  father  kneeled  down,  as  he  had  so  often 
done  before,  near  the  bed,  and  now  earnestly  prayed  that 
Jesus  would  receive  his  departing  spirit.  Before  the  voice 
of  prayer  arose,  he  had  seemed  to  be  in  a  stupor;  but  this 
sound  immediately  recalled  him  to  consciousness;  and  just 
as  all  had  risen  from  their  knees,  he  said  aloud,  though 
with  the  choking  accents  of  death, 

"Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed 
Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are," — 

going  over  parts  of  this  stanza  several  times  with  great 
composure.  He  then  said,  very  distinctly,  *'0  Death, 
where  is  thy  sting?  0  Grave,  where  is  thy  victory?"  and 
repeated  frequently  the  words,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit!  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit!"  He  called  his 
father  to  him,  and  said,  with  broken  utterance,  "  That 
Jesus  Christ  will  soon  receive  my  spirit — prap  that  /"  His 
mother  a.iked  him,  whether  he  had  not  some  message  to 
leave  for  his  young  companions,  in  college  and  elsewhere, 
who  were  going  on  in  folly.  He  hesitated  for  a  moment, 
as  if  in  deep,  troubled  thought.  Then  he  replied,  with  dis- 
tinctness and  solemn  emphasis,  "Stop! — Mad!" — and  a 
moment  after — "  Madness  !  " 

He  calmly  kissed  all  farewell,  and  very  soon,  quite  sud- 
denly and  unexpectedly,  his  altered  looks  arrested  the 
attention  of  those  present.  His  father  prayed  again  by 
the  bed-side ;  his  mother  endeavored  in  vain  to  recall  his 
failing  senses;  a  few  long,  easy  breaths,  and  all  Avas  over! 
Another  prayer — a  prayer  of  submission,  of  trust,  of 
thankfulness,  with  deepest,  almost  smothering  emotion, 
was  offered  up.  The  spirit  was  gone.  One  by  one  the 
mourners  went  forth  to  weep  apart.  The  hands  of  others 
were  speedily  preparing  the  cold  clay  for  burial. 

"  Death-bed  repentances"  are  too  often  fearful  delusions. 
The  best  hope,  perhaps,  for  this  one  was — He  was  a  child 
of  the  covenant ! 

Dr,  Miller  wrote  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Sergeant, 
'  Our  dear  Edward  has  at  length  left  us.     He  expired  at  one 
o'clock  this  afternoon,  without  suffering  more,  in  body,  than  we 
had  expected,  or  even  so  much;  and  in  the  calm  and  joyfal  ex- 


1832.]      DEATH    OF    EDWARD    MILLINGTON    MILLER.  221 

ercise  of  gospel  hope.  Indeed,  lie  gave  us  a  degree  of  satisfac- 
tion concerning  the  intelligence  and  firmness  of  his  Christian 
confidence,  especially  within  the  last  few  days,  which  has  almost 
turned  our  mourning  for  his  loss  into  cordial  joy,  in  the  persua- 
sion that  the  event  is  his  unspeakable  gain.  If  you  had  heard 
some  of  his  expressions,  when  he  was  hardly  able  to  sj^eak, 
this  forenoon,  you  would  not  wonder  that  I  use  such  strong 
language.' 

On  Thursday,  the  15th  of  November,  the  funeral  took 
place — the  religious  services  in  the  village  church.  Dr. 
Hodge  preached  on  the  occasion,  with  characteristic  tender- 
ness, of  "The  Christian's  Triumph  over  Death."  A  short 
extract  from  his  sermon  will  not  be  out  of  place. 

"  Instead  of  being  cut  down  by  a  sudden  stroke,  in  the  midst 
of  his  career,  it  was  kindly  ordered  that  he  should  fall  by.  that 
disease,  which,  while  it  wears  away,  refines  the  body  and  leaves 
the  soul  clearer  and  less  earthly,  as  its  clay  investment  is  per- 
ishing around  it.  Time  was  thus  mercifully  granted  for  re- 
flexion. As  he  had  enjoyed  the  inestimable  blessing  of  a  reli- 
gious education,  his  mind  was  bright  in  the  light  of  Christian 
truth ;  and,  when  roused  by  the  apparent  approach  of  death,  his 
soul  was  not  left  to  the  irregular  and  useless  action,  which  arises 
from  excited  feeling  in  the  midst  of  darkness.  To  his  parents 
it  must  have  afibrded  a  satisfaction  abundantly  repaying  all 
their  care  and  anxiety,  to  witness  the  obvious  benefit  of  correct 
doctrinal  knowledge.  Instead  of  anxious  doubt  as  to  what  was 
to  be  done  to  secure  the  favour  of  God,  there  was  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ;  and,  in- 
stead of  mere  excitement  and  delusion,  calm  and  spritual  views. 
To  this,  under  God,  is  to  be  referred  the  remarkable  simplicity 
and  purity  in  the  religious  exercises  of  the  dear  youth,  over 
whose  grave  we  are  called  to  rejoice  rather  than  to  weep.  The 
evidence  which  he  gave  of  a  change  of  heart,  and  of  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  became,  through  a  series  of  weeks,  more  and  more 
satisfactory.  For  more  than  two  months  past,  and  long  before 
he  was  confined  to  his  room,  he  evidently  abandoned  all  expec- 
tation of  recovery,  and  looked  forward  to  his  death  as  certain 
and  not  far  distant,  with  a  degree  of  calmness  and  steadiness 
which  made  a  deep  impression  on  all  around  him." 


CHAPTER    THIRTY- FIRST. 

LABORS  FRUITLESS  AND  FRUITFUL. 

1833-1835. 


1.     Letters  to  Presbyterians. 

"VYiTii  the  month  of  January,  1833,  Dr.  Miller  commenced 
contributing  to  The  Presbyterian  a  series  of  Letters  upon 
the  Present  Crisis  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  On  the 
17th  of  the  month,  the  Rev.  James  W.  Alexander  wrote, 

"You  will  have  seen  in  the  Presbyterian,  No.  1  of  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's letters ;  and,  I  doubt  not,  you  approve  its  spirit.  It  is  a 
sincere  attempt  at  pacification;  and,  like  all  such  attempts,  will 
displease  the  extremes."^ 

Hearing  that  Mr.  Nettleton  talked  of  visiting  Princeton, 
Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  him  at  once,  on  the  24th  of  January, 
1833, 

'The  intimation  gives  me  peculiar  pleasure,  *  *  I  hope 
you  will  execute  your  purpose  as  soon  as  you  conveniently  can. 
And  I  tra.st  I  need  not  add,  that,  when  you  come,  Mrs.  Miller 
and  myself  will  expect  you,  of  course,  to  come  immediately  to 
our  house,  and  to  make  it  your  home  during  your  stay  in 
Princeton.  I  believe  I  am  the  oldest  acquaintance  you  have 
here;  and  I  think  I  may  add,  you  have  none  anywhere  who 
will  be  more  glad  to  see  you,  or  esteem  it  more  of  a  privilege 
to  entertain  you.  =i^  *  If  you  can  stay  seven,  eight,  or  ten 
weeks,  come  on  immediately.  I  think  my  dear  wife  and  I 
can  find  you  work  enough,  that  you  ^v[\\  not  be  reluctant  to  be 
employed  about,  the  whole  time  and  longer.  If  you  can  only 
stay  *  *  ten  days  or  a  fortnight,  (and  I  sincerely  hope 
your  time  will  not  be  thus  limited,)  then  I  advise  that  you 
postpone  your  visit  until  about  the  14th  or  15th  of  Februarv. 
Our  students  will  then  have  come  together  again.     *     * 

'  1  Familiar  Letters,  204. 
000 


1833.]         LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  223 

*I  am  engaged  in  a  series  of  "Letters  to  Presbyterians,  on  the 
present  Crisis  in  the  Presbyterian  Church."  Whether  they  will 
do  good  or  harm,  I  know  not.  I  tremble  at  every  step  of  my 
progress;  and  I  hope  I  try  to  pray.  May  the  Lord  keep  me 
from  giving  an  unhallowed  touch  to  his  precious  Ark,  in  this 
awful  juncture  of  affairs.  I  should  be  glad  to  be  able  to  confer 
with  you  on  several  important  and  delicate  points.  Pray  for 
me,  that  the  "Holy  Spirit  of  promise"  may  be  in  me  "  a  Spirit 
of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind.'' 

'The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you! 

'Affectionately  yours,     *     * ' 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Wisner,  Secretary  of  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  dated  the  25th  of  January, 
Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'By  the  way,  will  you  allow  me  to  scold  you  a  little?  Why 
have  you  not  taken  notice,  in  the  Missionary  Herald,  of  the 
death  of  Mr.  Barr?  I  am  sure  there  is  not  an  individual  in 
your  rooms,  who  has  ever  felt,  for  a  moment,  disposed  to  take 
the  ground  of  hostility,  or  even  of  jealousy,  toward  "  The  Western 
Missionary  Society."  She  is,  indeed,  an  humble,  unpretending 
sister.  I  feel  confident  you  will  consider  it  as  equally  your 
policy  and  duty  not  to  frown  upon  her.' 

The  dates  of  these  letters  range  from  the  1st  of  January 
to  May;  and,  in  the  latter  month,  they  were  issued,  in 
book  form,  by  a  Philadelphia  Publisher,  who  asked  for 
them.^  A  glance  at  the  table  of  contents  will  show  that 
they  treated  of  most  of  the  vexed  questions  which  then 
agitated  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They  were  commended 
by  some,  and  condemned  by  others,  of  both  parties  ;  and 
were  often  quoted  against  the  author,  with  great  relish, 
when,  not  very  long  afterwards,  either  changed  circumstances, 
or  a  change  in  his  views,  led  him  to  depart,  in  practice,  as 
to  one  point  or  another,  from  what  he  had  written.  *'Some 
one  applied  to  Aaron  Burr  to  know  the  best  way  of  in- 

^  "Letters  to  Presbyterians  on  the  Present  Crisis  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 
Philadelphia:  1833."— 12mo.  Pp.314, 

The  titles  of  these  letters  were  as  follows: — I.  Introductory  Remarks — Early 
Rupture  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  II.  Voluntary  Associations.  III.  IV. 
V.  Voluntary  Associations  and  Ecclesiastical  Boards.  VI.  VII.  VIII.  Adhe- 
rence to  our  Doctrinal  Standards.  IX.  X.  Revivals  of  Religion.  XI.  XII. 
Adherence  to  Presbyterial  Order.  XIII.  Selecting  and  Licensing  Candidates. 
XIV.  Religiou."  Education  of  the  Children  of  the  Church.  XV.  Doing  good 
as  a  Church.     XVI.  Sectarianism — Conclusion. 


2'2i  LABORS  FRUITLESS  AND  FRUITFUL.   [CH.  31.  1. 

fluencing  a  prominent  man  to  adopt  a  certain  policy.  ^Has 
he  argued  against  it?'  asked  the  wily  politician. — 'Yes.' — 
'  Has°he  wrftten  against  it?'— 'No.' — '  Well  then,  we  mat/ 
chanf^e  him ;  but,  if  he  had  written,  it  would  be  improbable  ; 
for  a  man  seldom  changes  when  he  has  put  himself  in  black 
and  white.'  "  It  was  no  real  discredit  to  Dr.  Miller  that 
he  sometimes  changed  his  opinions,  much  less,  that,  with  a 
change  of  circumstances,  he  c'langed  his  course  of  action. 
These  letters  were  a  partial  result  of  an  honest,  though 
seemingly  fruitless,  effort  to  make  peace  in  the  Church. 
Possibly,  in  his  ardent  desire  for  peace,  he  too  far  over- 
looked the  Scripture  which  he  had  made  the  motto  of  another 
work^ — "first  pure,  then  j^eaceable." 

lie  refers  to  this  publication,  in  his  diary,  thus: — 

'May  15,  1833.  Mr.  Anthony  Finley,  of  Philadelphia,  has 
just  collected  aud  published,  in  a  neat  duodecimo  volume,  my 
"Letters  to  Presbyterians."  I  would  fain  hope  that  these 
letters  have  done,  and  will  yet  do,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
some  good.  If  I  do  not  deceive  myself,  they  were  written  with 
a  sincere  desire,  that  they  might  promote  the  great  interests  of 
truth,  piety  and  order  in  our  beloved  church.  I  commit  them 
to  the  Lord.  They  have  certainly  been  written  with  much 
prayer.  Whether  it  was  prayer  of  the  right  sort  I  will  not 
decide. 

'Some  of  my  friends  have  wondered,  how  I  made  out,  with 
ra^'- feeble  health  and  multiplied  engagements,  to  write  so  much. 
There  is  no  mystery  in  it.  It  is  not  because  I  write  rapidly ; 
for  I  compose  for  the  press  with  as  much  difficulty,  I  presume, 
as  most  men  who  are  accustomed  to  composition.  But  the  real 
reasons  why  I  am  enabled  to  accomplish  as  much  as  I  do,  may 
be  comprized  in  the  following  particulars: 

*1.  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  be  hurried;  or  to  press  my 
health,  strength  or  spirits  beyond  what  they  will  bear,  by  writ- 
ing at  late  hours,  or  by  overstrained  exertion  at  any  one  time. 
I  am  very  much  of  the  mind  of  the  old  Quaker,  who,  when  a 
traveller  on  the  same  road  overtook  him,  seemed  to  be  pressing 
forward  in  great  haste,  and  asked  with  much  apparent  eager- 
ness, how  soon  he  could  reach  a  certain  town,  thirty  or  forty 
miles  ahead,  significantly  replied,  "  Thou  mayest  get  there  by 
sunset,  if  thou  wilt  go  slow  enough."  The  inquirer  pressed 
on,  leaving  the  prudent  Quaker  to  jog  along  at  a  slow,  but 
regular,  rate.     Several  hours  before  sunset,  the  Quaker  over- 

iir.  Vol.,  112.     Note. 


1833.]  LETTERS    TO    PRESBYTERIANS.  225 

took  his  impatient  fellow-traveller,  some  miles  short  of  the 
town  to  which  he  was  going,  greatly  fatigued  himself,  and  his 
horse  fairly  fagged  out.  The  Quaker  passed  him,  and  reached 
the  same  town  with  ease  before  the  sun  went  down — all  because 
he  had  travelled  slowly  but  regularly.  I  am  persuaded  that, 
in  every  sort  of  labor,  the  old  Latin  maxim,  Festina  lenle,  is  of 
exceeding  great  importance. 

'2.  I  have  been,  for  many  years,  in  the  habit  of  going  to  bed 
early.  I  wish  always  to  be  in  bed  a  little  after  ten  o'clock, 
certainly  before  eleven.  Sitting  up  late,  and  studying  much 
by  candle  light,  are  very  destructive  to  health,  and,  ultimately, 
retard,  rather  than  promote,  literary  labor. 

'  3.  I  make  a  point  of  rising  very  early :  in  winter,  an  hour 
before  day,  making  my  own  fire,  and  getting  ready  for  w^ork, 
before  I  can  be  interrupted  by  company,  etc. ;  and,  in  summer, 
soon  after  sunrise.  This  is  very  important  to  him  who  would 
do  much. 

'  4.  I  try  to  improve  every  fragment  of  time  ;  and  although 
ray  interruptions  *  "^  are  incessant,  yet  I  am  so  happy  as 
to  be  able,  after  an  interruption,  to  take  up  a  subject  where  I 
left  it,  Vy'ithout  much  loss  of  time  in  going  back  to  find  the 
clew.  This  has  long  been  of  great  use  to  me,  and  made  my 
fragments  of  time  more  precious. 

*  5.  Whenever  I  have  been  compelled  to  make  an  extra 
effort,  in  the  way  of  study  or  writing,  I  have  found  incalcula- 
ble advantage  in  going  through  it  fasting,  or,  at  least,  eating 
very  little.  In  these  circumstances  my  mental  operations  are 
always  more  active  and  successful;  and  I,  of  course,  suffer 
much  less  from  mental  application,  and  from  want  of  exercise, 
than  if  I  ate  as  usual. 

'  6.  I  must  do  honor  to  divine  aid.  I  have  always  found,  that 
the  more  I  acknowledged  God,  in  my  studies,  the  more  com- 
fortably and  successfully  they  proceeded.' 

The  biographer's  comments  upon  these  letters  may,  per- 
haps, be  guarded  against  exerting  too  much  of  the  influ- 
ence of  partiality,  by  giving,  beforehand,  Dr.  Baird's  hon- 
est, though  hardly  impartial,  criticism. 

"  In  another  direction,  [apart  from  New-School  designs  and 
efforts,]  recent  indications  were  calculated  to  cause  anxiety. 
During  the  preceding  spring,  in  a  series  of  "  Letters  to  Presby- 
terians," published  in  the  Presbyterian  newspaper,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Miller  had  assumed  ground  which  was  presumably  indicative 
of  the  position  to  be  taken  by  the  Moderate  party.  In  these 
Letters,  the  questions  in  agitation  were  brought  under  elabo- 
VoL.  II.— 20 


226  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.       [CII.  31.  1. 

rate  review.  The  conclusions,  however,  which  were  attained, 
were  disproportioned  to  the  argument,  and  altogether  inade- 
quate to  the  emergency.  As  to  doctrinal  differences,  the  Pro- 
fessor declared  his  conviction  that  "  nineteen  twentieths  of  the 
M-hole  number  of  our  ministers  are  sufficiently  near  to  the  Scrip- 
tures and  to  each  other,  to  be  comfortably  united  in  Christian 
fellowship  and  co-operation";  and  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
ministry  were  as  united  in  sentiment  as  were  the  fathers  of  the 
Church,  in  1741.  The  schism  of  that  year  he  regarded  as  hav- 
ing been  condemned  by  the  reunion  of  1758.  He,  therefore, 
gave  his  voice,  "  not  for  division,  but  for  peace  and  continued 
union";  "for  softening  asperities,  for  reconciling  differences, 
for  putting  away  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  evil  speaking." 
He  insisted  that  the  Church,  in  conducting  the  business  of  mis- 
sions and  evangelization,  was  engaged  in  her  proper  and  pecu- 
liar work ;  yet  wished  her  sons  to  sustain  the  voluntary  socie- 
ties, too ;  and,  whilst  expressing  pleasure  at  the  formation  of 
the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  uttered  the  hope  that 
the  attempt  would  not  be  made  to  induce  the  Assembly  to  un- 
dertake the  work.  He  condemned  and  showed,  very  clearly, 
the  evil  and  danger  of  erecting  church  courts  upon  the  princi- 
ple of  elective  affinity ;  and  yet  declared  that,  had  he  been  in 
the  Assembly,  he  would  probably  have  voted  for  that  measure. 
In  fact,  the  venerable  Professor  was  the  leading  promoter  of  the 
"compromising  policy"  of  the  Assembly  of  1831,  by  which  a 
judicial  decision,  in  Mr. Barnes's  case,  was  evaded;  and  he  was 
chairman  of  the  committee,  which  recommended  the  erection  of 
the  elective  affinity  Presbytery,  for  the  accommodation  of  that 
gentleman  and  his  friends. 

"As  the  result  of  the  entire  discussion,  the  Professor  opposed 
himself  decisively  to  any  really  effectual  measures,  and  pro- 
posed, as  the  remedy  for  the  evils  which  were  harassing  the 
Church,  that  the  extremists,  on  the  one  hand,  should  cease 
giving  cause  of  uneasiness  to  their  brethren  ;  and  that  those,  on 
the  other,  should  no  longer  agitate  the  Church,  with  their  ap- 
prehensions and  alarms  !"^ 

An  interesting  illustration  of  parental  influence  presents 
itself  in  the  first  of  these  letters.  Dr.  Miller's  father,  as  a 
New  England  man,  would,  not  improbably,  have  been  a 
New  School  man,  had  he  lived  until  the  times  now  under 
review ;  and  his  son,  though  thoroughly  Old   School,  says, 

"  *  '''  if  the  sketch  which  I  propose  to  give  should  answer 
no  other  purpose,  it  will  serve  to  show  why  I  shrink,  with  a 

1  Hist,  of  New  School,  113-121. 


1833.]  LETTERS    TO    PRE-BYTERIANS.  227 

kind  of  instinctive  horror,  from  everything  adapted  to  produce 
strife  and  division  in  our  beloved  Church.  I  have  heard  so 
much  under  my  paternal  roof,  and  among  the  associates  of  my 
youth,  of  the  mischiefs  and  miseries  of  the  old  schism,  that  I 
feel  willing  to  sacrifice  everything  but  truth  and  duty,  for  the 
sake  of  avoiding  a  repetition  of  those  melancholy  scenes.  *  "' 
"Although  this  breach  was  healed  eleven  years  before  my 
birth,  yet,  in  my  youth,  I  *  *  witnessed  so  many  of  its 
mournful  effects,  that,  I  hardly  need  say,  my  recollections  of  it 
are  deeply  painful,  and  that  I  consider  it  as  one  of  the  most 
solemnly  admonitory  portions  of  the  history  of  our  Church. 
From  a  venerated  parent,  who  acted  his  part  wdth  other  min- 
isters in  the  distressing  struggle;  and  from  a  number  of  his 
clerical  friends,  with  whom  I  had,  in  early  life,  a  sort  of  filial 
acquaintance,  I  learned  so  much  of  the  miseries  and  mischiefs 
of  the  whole  scene ;  of  the  wounds  which  were  inflicted  on  pri- 
vate feeling;  above  all,  of  the  deeper  wounds  inflicted  on  the 
cause  of  religion ;  and  of  the  deplorable  degree  in  which  the 
hands  of  ministers,  and  the  interests  of  many  churches,  were 
weakened  by  strife  and  schism ;— that  you  cannot  wonder  that 
all  the  associations  in  my  mind  with  that  history  are  peculiarly 
painful ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  witness  ecclesiasti- 
cal animosity  and  alienation,  and  to  hear  suggestions  of  another 
rupture  in  our  beloved  Church,  without  much  more  intense  an- 
guish of  spirit  than  seems  to  be  endured  by  many  younger  men 
who  make  or  hear  the  suggestion."^ 

It  was  a  mistake  to  compare  the  condition  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  before  the  schism  of  1741,  with  its  condi- 
tion at  this  time.  There  was  alienation  of  feeling  chiefly 
then,  where  there  was  now  serious  doctrinal  disagreement; 
but  Dr.  Miller  put  a  more  charitable  construction  upon  the 
views  of  many  of  his  brethren  than  the  facts  really  war- 
ranted, and  hence  did  not  discern  quite  clearly  the  difl'er- 
cnce  between  the  two  cases. 

The  following  letter,  though  written,  as  the  date  shows, 
several  years  after  the  publication  now  under  notice,  throws 
so  much  light,  both  backward  and  forward,  upon  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's course,  that  just  here,  perhaps,  it  may  best  be  in- 
serted. It  especially  illustrates  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
of  1831  in  Mr.  Barnes's  case,  and  the  general  tenor  of  the 
Letters  to  Presbyterians  in  1833.  It  was  addressed  to  the 
Rev.  John  McElhenney,"  of  Lewisburgh,  Virginia,  and  pre- 

'  Pp.  3,  11,  12.  2  Afterwards  D.D.     See  The  Presbyterian,  (1837,)  62. 


228  LABORS    FRUITLESS    AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  1, 

ceded,  by  about  a  month,  as  may  be  observed,  tlie  decisive 
measures  of  the  Asseuibly  of  18o7. 

"  Rev.  and  dear  Brother, 

"  Your  letter  of  March  7th  found  me  on  a  bed  of  sick- 
ness, to  which  I  was  confined  for  more  than  three  weeks.  I 
am  now,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  slowly  regaining  my  strength, 
and  am  just  beginning  again,  with  great  caution,  to  resume  the 
use  of  mv  pen. 

"You  ask  me  to  state  "whether  I  know  of  any  'Fatalists'  in 
our  Church."  INIy  explicit  answer  is,  I  do  not.  I  know  of  no 
minister  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  who  carries  the  doctrines 
of  Predestination  and  Election  further  than  the  judicious,  ra- 
tional and  Scriptural  manner  in  which  they  are  represented  in 
the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  of  our  beloved  Church. 
I  suppose  Arminians  and  Pelagians  would  call  the  doctrine  of 
our  public  standards  on  these  subjects  fatalism,  and  you  and  me 
fatalists  for  adhering  to  them.  But  so  would  not  the  apostle 
Paul;  so  would  not  Luther,  or  Calvin,  if  they  could  now  be 
consulted ;  so  would  not  the  venerable  John  Newton,  or  Thomas 
Scott,  of  the  Church  of  England,  if  their  writings  may  decide 
the  question. 

"  It  is  indeed  true  that  I  have,  in  a  few  cases,  heard  ministers, 
in  our  Communion,  speak  of  the  inability  of  the  imj)enitent  sin- 
ner in  a  manner  which  seemed  to  me  adapted  to  make  an  im- 
pression on  the  popular  ear,  unfavorable  to  his  moral  agency 
and  accountability.  And  yet  it  is  due  to  truth  to  say,  that,  in 
all  such  cases,  when  an  explanation  was  sought,  I  found  that  I 
differed  from  the  speakers  chiefly,  and  for  the  most  part,  only, 
in  language.  When  they  said  that  man,  by  nature,  is  unable, 
'in  any  sense,  to  turn  to  God,  and  keep  his  commandments,  they 
meant  only  that  he  has  no  ability,  as  to  this  matter,  which  can 
avail  him  to  the  attainment  of  the  object — that,  though  fully  pos- 
sessed of  all  the  faculties  constituting  a  moral  and  accountable 
agent — yet  of  that  moral  ability,  which  is  the  grand  sine  qua 
-non  to  all  obedience,  he  is  entirely  destitute ;  and,  of  course, . 
that  while  thus  destitute,  he  is,  in  no  sense,  that  can  avail  him, 
able  to  perform  his  duty.  Is  this  erroneous?  Is  it  not  im- 
pregnable truth  ?  Do  those  who  hold  it  deserve  the  name  of 
j'afali.itsf  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  any  enlightened  and 
candid  judge  can  make  this  estimate  of  the  matter. 

"I  have  now  answered  the  only  question  you  proposed  to 
me,  with  all  the  cxplicitness  and  candour  of  which  I  am  capa- 
ble. And  as  you  inform  me  that  you  wish  my  answer  for  the 
purpose  of  making  it  public,  I  hope  you  will  pardon  my  ad- 


1833.]        LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  229 

dressing  it  to  you,  in  the  first  instance,  through  a  public  me- 
dium. 

"  Having  thus,  reverend  and  dear  brother,  despatched  what 
I  have  to  say  on  the  foregoing  subject,  allow  me  to  make  this 
letter  the  channel  of  a  few  remarks  on  another.  Having  been 
associated  with  you  in  all  the  conflicts  of  the  last  two  General 
Assemblies,  I  feel  a  fraternal  interest  and  confidence  in  you, 
which  embolden  me  to  dwell  on  some  things  respecting  myself, 
which  I  am  persuaded  will  not  be  wholly  indififerent  to  you, 
and  through  you  to  communicate  them  to  the  jDublic. 

"  Ever  since  the  rise  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1835,  my 
course  as  a  member  of  that  body,  which  you  witnessed  through- 
out, has  been  made,  in  various  quarters,  the  subject  of  un- 
friendly and  severe  remark : — by  some,  within  the  bounds  of 
your  Synod,  with  decorum,  yet  with  decided  censure :  by  some 
other  writers  and  speakers  in  more  northern  Synods,  of  coarser 
minds,  with  more  acrimonious  and  unmeasured  vituperation. 
The  amount  of  the  charge  brought  by  these  brethren  is,  that 
the  course  which  I  took,  and  the  principles  which  I  advocated 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  1835,  were  very  different  from  my 
former  professions  and  course,  and  manifested  a  timid  and 
pliant  submission  to  the  brethren  of  the  Act  and  Testimony, 
and  to  the  Convention  and  Memorial  which  they  formed. 

"Now,  even  if  every  part  of  this  charge  had  been  true  to 
the  letter,  what  great  crime  would  it  have  involved  ?  Surely 
there  were  brethren  who  signed  that  document,  and  attended 
the  Convention,  with  whom  any  man  might  consider  it  as  an 
honour  to  be  found  in  company  and  in  co-operation.  They 
were  among  the  most  venerable  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  for  age,  wisdom,  experience,  piety,  and  valuable  ser- 
vices. Suppose  I  had  been  materially  influenced  by  the  advice 
of  such  men,  and  had  in  some  measure  altered  my  course  in 
conformity  with  it,  would  there  have  been  anything  either  dis- 
creditable or  criminal  in  this  ?  When  I  think  of  the  character 
of  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Green,  one  of  the  number,  who  has  been 
labouring  without  weariness  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  for 
fifty  years,  and  who  has  probably  done  more  for  promoting  her 
essential  interests  than  any  other  man  now  living ;  and  when 
I  reflect  on  the  manner  in  which  he  has  been  spoken  of  and 
treated  by  men  of  yesterday,  who  would  find  it  extremely 
difiicult  to  point  to  any  record  of  their  services  to  our  beloved 
Zion,  and  who  scarcely  know  enough  of  her  history  to  under- 
stand what  others  have  done;  I  scarcely  know  how  to  express 
ray  indignation. 

"  But  the  truth  is,  the  charge  alleged  has  not  the  shadow  of 

20* 


230  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.        [CH.  31.  1. 

foundation.  And,  happily,  the  documents  to  prove  it  entirely 
groundless  are  public  'and  undeniable.  My  "  Letters  to  Pres- 
byterians" were  first  published  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  1833. 
They  had  been  widely  circulated  in  the  Presbyterian,  and  were 
all  collected  into  a  volume,  and  on  sale  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  that  year. 
In  those  "  Letters,"  I  publicly  and  zealously  maintained  the 
following  opinions : — 

"L  That  every  Presbytery  has  a  right  to  be  satisfied  with 
regard  to  the  character  of  every  candidate  for  admission  into 
their  body,  even  though  he  should  come  from  another  Presby- 
tery with  clean  papers ;  and,  if  necessary,  to  examine  him  for 
this  purpose. 

"  2.  That  the  erection  of  Church  Courts  on  the  principle  of 
*'  Elective  Affinity" — that  is,  judicatories  not  bounded  by  geo- 
graphical limits,  but  erected  with  a  chief  regard  to  diversities 
of  doctrinal  belief,  and  ecclesiastical  polity — is  contrary  to  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  and  opens 
a  wide  door  for  mischiefs  of  the  most  serious  and  ruinous 
character. 

"  3.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  en- 
gage with  zeal  in  the  work  of  missions,  foreign  and  domestic ; 
and  also  in  training  her  own  candidates  for  the  ministry : — that 
the  Boards  of  their  own  Church  ought  to  be  first  sustained  by 
sound  and  consistent  Presbyterians;  and  after  them  voluntary 
associations  of  a  promising  and  useful  character. 

"  4.  That  there  was  too  much  reason  to  believe,  that  certain 
specified  doctrinal  errors,  of  a  very  serious  and  lamentable 
character,  were  adopted  and  published  by  ministers  in  our 
Church  ;  and  that  it  behooved  all  our  judicatories  to  purge  out 
such  errors,  and  to  guard  wdth  the  utmost  vigilance  and  fidelity 
against  their  admission  into  our  body. 

"  Those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  look  over  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  General  Assembly  for  1835,  will  perceive  that  these 
four  positions,  were  precisely  those  acts  of  the  Assembly  of 
that  year,  which  gave  most  offence  to  our  brethren  of  the  New 
School,  and  for  actively  concurring  in  which  I  have  been  most 
severely  censured  by  them,  and  represented  as  having  deserted 
my  former  ground,  and  acted  an  inconsistent  part.  Surely  no 
charge  was  ever  more  unjust.  All  the  principles  above  stated, 
I  had  openly  avowed,  and  steadfastly  maintained,  two  full 
years  before  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1835,  or 
the  Convention  which  immediately  preceded  it,  and  more  than 
a  year  before  the  Act  and  Testimony  or  the  Convention  w^as 
thought  of. 


1833.]        LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  231 

"  There  was  another  principle  adopted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1835,  for  concurring  in  which  I  am  charged  with 
being  a  new  and  pliable  convert  to  high-church  doctrines  : — I 
mean  the  principle  that  it  may  be  the  duty  of  a  judicatory  to 
warn  the  Church  against  a  corrupt  or  dangerous  booh,  without 
being  bound,  in  all  cases,  to  arraign  the  author  for  heresy. 
But  it  so  happens,  that,  as  far  back  as  1831,  when  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  General  Assembly  of  that  year,  and  as  chairman  of 
a  committee  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  it  became  my  duty  to 
draft  a  report  for  that  committee,  the  original  report  as  drawn 
by  me,  declared,  that  every  judicatory  had  a  right  to  express 
its  opinion  of  erroneous  books,  and  that  it  might  be  a  duty  to 
do  so  in  cases  in  which  it  was  not  necessary  to  arraign  their 
authors.  This  part  of  the  report,  however,  was  disapproved 
and  thrown  out  by  a  majority  of  the  committee,  very  much  to 
my  regret,  and  against  my  earnest  remonstrance.  The  same 
principle  was  also  adopted  and  embodied  in  a  resolution  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  of  which  I  am  a  member,  in 
which  resolution  I  heartily  concurred,  a  number  of  months 
before  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  of  1835,  or  of  the  Con- 
vention which  has  been  so  often  referred  to. 

"  By  the  way,  before  taking  leave  of  the  committee  of  which 
I  was  chairman  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  in  1831,  it  may  not 
be  improper  to  state,  that  for  that  report  I  have  had,  ever 
since,  a  sort  and  degree  of  credit  from  my  New  School  brethren, 
to  which  I  was  never  justly  entitled.  The  report  in  question 
was  praised  by  them  for  its  mild  and  accommodating  spirit. 
It  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  my  report ;  nor  was  it  formed 
agreeably  to  my  wishes,  though,  as  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, I  presented  it  to  the  Assembly.  In  the  committee  I 
contended  for  a  report  much  less  agreeable  to  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Barnes;  and,  at  length,  when  I  found  that  a  majority  of 
the  committee  could  not  be  brought  to  accede  to  my  views,  I 
informed  them  that  I  should  think  it  my  duty  to  disavow  con- 
currence in  it,  before  the  Assembly,  which  I  accordingly  did  in 
the  most  explicit  and  public  manner. 

"  Further  still ;  when,  in  the  Memorial  of  the  Convention,  in 
1835,  some  measures  were  proposed  and  urged  on  the  General 
Assembly,  which  I  had  referred  to,  in  my  "  Letters  to  Presby- 
terians," with  disapprobation  and  resistance,  I  continued  openly 
and  firmly  to  resist  their  adoption  by  the  Assembly;  and  they 
were  accordingly,  if  my  memory  docs  not  deceive  me,  not  one 
of  them  adopted  by  that  body.  Those  who  will  do  me  the 
justice  to  compare  my  "  Letters"  with  the  Memorial  of  the 
Convention,  and  with  the  doings  of  the  Assembly  of  1835, 
w'ill  perceive  at  once  the  meaning  and  the  evidence  of  this 
statement. 


282  LABORS    FRUITLESS    AND  FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  1. 

"But  it  is  alleged,  that,  in  1833,  when  I  wrote  my  "Letters 
to  Presbyterians,"  I  expressed  an  opinion  that,  though  decidedly 
in  favour  of  the  Presbyterian  Church's  sustaining  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  it  would  be  unwise  to  place  that 
Society  under  the  immediate  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  lest 
it  should  prove  another  source  of  strife  and  conflict ;  but  that, 
in  the  General  Assemblies  of  1835  and  1836, 1  altered  my  mind, 
and  voted  in  favour  of  its  being  placed  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  the  General  Assembly.  It  is  manifest  that  here 
was  no  change  of  principle.  When  I  became  convinced,  after 
much  inquiry,  that  unless  the  Society  were  placed  under  the 
patronage  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  could  not  receive  the 
cordial  support  of  all  those  members  of  our  Church  who  prefer 
Ecclesiastical  Boards,  I  became  a  friend  to  that  measure.  I 
am  constrained,  moreover,  further  to  declare,  that  among  the 
considerations  which  had  much  influence  in  effecting  an  altera- 
tion in  my  views  in  this  matter,  were  the  language,  the  mea- 
sures, and  the  spirit  of  our  New-School  brethren,  in  conducting 
the  debate  in  the  Assembly  of  1836.  These  were  of  a  character 
which  I  contemplated  with  regret  and  amazement ;  and  I  be- 
came fully  satisfied  that  their  designs  were  more  deeply  hostile 
to  the  true  honour  and  best  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
than  I  had  ever  before  supposed.  These  brethren  themselves 
have  had  more  agency  in  bringing  about  the  change  of  opinion 
of  which  they  complain,  than  all  others  combined. 

"The  overture  of  Dr.  Rice  has  been  grievously  misrepre- 
sented. It  is  well  known  that  that  excellent  and  lamented 
man  was  a  warm  friend  to  "  The  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions";  and  yet  it  is  manifest  from  the 
overture  itself,  that  he  wished  and  expected  the  General  As- 
sembly as  suck,  in  some  form,  to  undertake  and  conduct  foreign 
missions.  I  so  understood  the  overture  when  it  reached  Prince- 
ton ;  and,  so  understanding  it,  gave  it  my  hearty  support  in  the 
General  Assembly  of  1831,  of  which  I  happened  to  be  a  mem- 
ber, and  to  which  it  was  presented.  It  was  that  overture,  no 
doubt,  which  gave  rise  to  the  appointment  of  a  committee  on 
the  part  of  the  Assembly  to  confer  with  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners,  "on  the  best  means  of  enlisting  the  energies 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  more  extensively  in  the  cause  of 
missions  to  the  heathen."  The  Committee  appointed  attended 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Board  at  New  Haven,  in 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  I  was  present,  as  a  member  of 
the  Board,  when  the  joint  Committee  of  the  Assembly  and  of 
tlie  Board  laid  before  the  latter  a  report  expressing  the  opinion 
that  the  General  Assembly  ought  not  to  undertake  any  separate 


1833.]         LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  233 

action  in  the  missionary  field.  When  the  question  on  this  re- 
port was  about  to  be  taken,  I  arose,  and  remarked,  that  I  could 
not  give  an  unqualified  vote  in  favour  of  that  report ;  that  I  was 
persuaded  there  was  a  large  portion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
that  earnestly  wished  a  Board  of  Missions  of  our  own  Church 
to  be  formed,  and  that,  in  all  probability,  would  ultimately 
form  one.  But  that  I  would  cheerfully  vote  for  the  original 
report,  provided  the  following  addition  to  it  could  be  made, 
■which  I  moved  as  an  amendment,  viz. :  ^ 

"  This  amendment,  however,  w^as  very  unceremoniously  nega- 
tived, two  other  members  of  the  Board  only,  so  far  as  I  recol- 
lect; viz.,  Dr.  Spring,  of  New  York,  and  Dr.  Carnahan  of 
Princeton,  rising  in  its  favour.  Although  this  rejection  made, 
at  the  time,  a  very  unpleasant  impression  on  my  mind,  as  well 
as  on  the  minds  of  some  other  warm  friends  of  the  Board  to 
whom  it  was  made  known,  it  never  diminished  my  coixiial 
friendliness  to  that  Board,  nor  suspended  those  testimonials  of 
friendship  to  it  which  I  have  been,  according  to  my  ability,  for 
a  number  of  years,  in  the  habit  of  giving. 

"You  will  bear  in  mind,  my  dear  Brother,  that  the  purpose 
of  the  foregoing  statement  is  not  to  show  that  my  course  has 
been  a  correct  one.  On  that  point  my  mind  is  entirely  at  ease. 
My  appeal,  on  that  question,  shall  be  to  a  higher  tribunal  than 
any  in  this  world.  My  only  object,  at  present,  is  to  show  that 
I  am  no  "recent  convert"  to  new  opinions;  that  my  course, 
since  these  troubles  began,  has  been  as  uniform  and  steadfast, 
as  it  was  public  and  open ;  and  that  while  I  never  felt  pre- 
pared to  concur  in  all  the  measures  proposed  by  some  respected 
brethren  with  whom  I  have  been  wont  to  cooperate,  nothing  has 
been  further  from  my  policy  than  trimming  or  concealment. 

"  But  more  than  all  this,  have  not  the  "  gentlemen  in  Prince- 
ton," in  all  the  strictures  which  they  felt  bound  conscientiously 
to  make  on  the  "A<3t  and  Testimony,"  and  on  the  plan  and 
doings  of  the  Convention  of  1835,  uniformly  assured  the  pub- 
lic, that  they  perfectly  agreed,  in  all  great  principles,  with  the 
venerable  brethren  who  acted  in  those  matters ;  and  that  they 
differed  from  them  only  on  questions  of  policy  and  means? 
Was  it  possible  to  make  declarations  of  this  kind  more  dis- 
tinctly or  more  publicly  than  they  were  repeatedly  made  ?  And 
facts  have  uniformly  corresponded  with  these  declarations.  In 
this,  so  far  as  I  know,  we  have  been  all  united.  When  I  wrote 
my  "  Letters  ^to  Presbyterians,"  in  1833,  I  was  opposed  to  a 
division  of  the  Church.  I  am  opposed  to  a  division  still.  By 
prudence,  firmness,  fidelity  and  patience,  I  am  confident  it  may 

1  The  paper  here  referred  to  has  already  been  inserted.     See  page  205. 


234  LABORS    FRUITLESS    AND  FRUITFUL.       [CII.  31.   1. 

be  avoided.  But  I  have  no  hesitation  in  expressing  the  opinion, 
Avhich  I  entertained  and  published  four  years  ago,  that  if  ^ve 
are  to  go  on,  in  future,  as  we  have  done  for  the  last  few  years,^ 
in  a  course  of  continual  conflict  and  strife ;  and  above  all,  if 
division  can  be  avoided  only  by  yielding  to  the  inroads  of  Ar- 
minian  and  Pelagian  errors ;  I  do  not  see  how  the  great  ends 
of  Christian  fellowship  can  be  attained ;  and  am  persuaded  it 
would  be  better  to  separate,  and  that  as  speedily  and  quietly 
as  possible.  This  is  all  I  meant  to  say  in  giving  my  assent  to 
the  late  resolutions  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick ;  and 
this  I  have  uniformly  said,  on  every  suitable  occasion,  for  the 
last  four  or  five  years. 

"But  perhaps  the  table  of  accusation  w^ill  now  be  turned  upon 
me,  and  I  shall  be  told,  that,  although  the  foregoing  statement 
may  conclusively  show  that  I  am  not  a  "  recent  convert "  to  the 
doctrines  and  policy  of  the  Old-School  party,  it  establishes 
something  much  worse ;  viz.,  that  I  have  rather  been  a  pre- 
cursor in  all  their  mischiefs  ;  the  real  alarmist  and  incendiary 
in  all  the  agitation  which  has  afflicted  the  Church.  This  latter 
charge  has  been,  indeed,  formally  made  by  several  writers,  and, 
what  is  remarkable,  by  the  very  same  persons  who  have  re- 
proached me  as  a  "pliant  convert"  to  a  "restless  and  aspiring 
party."  I  have  no  anxiety  to  plead  either  innocent  or  guilty 
to  this  charge.  It  never  occurred  to  me  that  I  was  considered 
as  a  firebrand  or  disturber  of  the  peace  in  any  society  of  which 
I  was  a  member.  But,  if  any  act  or  publication  of  mine  has 
been  instrumental  in  rousing  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  a  sense 
of  her  danger  and  her  duty ;  if  I  have  contributed,  in  the 
smallest  degree,  to  turn  the  public  attention  to  those  schemes 
of  corruption  and  subversion  which  every  year,  for  some  time 
past,  has  more  and  more  disclosed,  I  cannot  consider  it  as  a 
fault:  I  rather  glory  in  it  as  a  service  to  the  cause  of  my 
Master  in  heaven. 

"What  may  be  the  result  of  these  painful  conflicts,  I  am  as 
little  able  to  foretell  as  yourself.  I  cannot,  however,  but  cherish 
the  humble  confidence  that  the  God  of  truth  and  order  will 
sustain  his  own  cause.  That  the  general  cause  of  the  Old 
school  brethren,  in  this  contest,  is  the  cause  of  God,  and  of  right- 
eousness, I  can  no  more  doubt  than  I  can  doubt  that  the  Gos- 
pel is  from  heaven.  I  know,  indeed,  that  their  remonstrances 
and  their  efi'orts  have  been  often  stigmatized  as  a  mere  "  strug- 
gle for  power."  But  it  were  just  as  reasonable  to  say,  that  he 
who  strives  to  defend  his  dwelling  and  his  beloved  family  from 
ruthless  invaders  is  only  "struggling  for  power."  What  is  it 
that  they  desire  and  claim?  Simply  that  they  be  allowed  to 
maintain,  pure  and  entire,  that  system  of  doctrine  and  order 
which  they  verily  believe  to  be  founded  in  the  word  of  God 


1833.]       LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  235 

for  which  their  fathers  made  so  many  sacrifices;  and  which 
they  have  bound  themselves  to  one  another,  and  to  the  Chris- 
tian community,  to  preserve  uncorrupted.  Surely  when  they 
desire  nothing  more  than  to  enjoy  this  precious  privilege — to  be 
permitted  to  train  up  their  own  ministry,  and  to  send  forth  to 
their  benighted  fellow-men  that  Gospel,  and  that  ecclesiastical 
order  which  they  conscientiously  prefer,  and  believe  to  be  most 
agreeable  to  the  will  of  God — it  requires  no  proof  to  satisfy  any 
candid  mind  that  their  claim  is  reasonable,  and  that  those  who 
would  resist  it  are  chargeable  with  extreme  injustice.  My  hope, 
under  God,  is,  that  those  excellent  brethren  known  by  the  title 
of  "  Old  Hopkinsians,"  with  whom  we  have  lived  and  acted  in 
peace  for  many  years,  and  who  are  as  much  opposed  to  the 
errors  of  the  new  theology  as  any  of  our  number,  will  firmly 
take  their  stand,  in  the  coming  struggle,  among  the  advocates 
of  truth,  and  thus  prevent  a  catastrophe  which  they  profess  to 
deprecate  no  less  than  ourselves.  If  they  refuse  to  do  this,  and 
prefer  sustaining  by  their  votes,  however  conscientiously  given, 
that  system  of  error  and  disorder  which  they  acknowledge  to  be 
deeply  mischievous  in  its  tendency;  should  the  ultimate  de- 
struction of  the  peace  and  unity  of  our  beloved  Church  be  the 
consequence,  charity  herself  cannot  doubt  that  the  responsibility 
will  lie  at  their  door. 

"  In  regard  to  the  delicate  and  solemn  subject  oi  slavery,  con- 
cerning which  you  express  an  anxious  interest,  I  can  only  say, 
that  I  fully  sympathize  in  all  your  solicitude.  I  believe  as  fully 
as  you  do,  that  our  Abolition  brethren,  by  the  course  w'hich  they 
pursue,  are  every  day  deeply  wounding  the  cause  of  religion ; 
retarding  the  progress  of  emancipation ;  inflicting  immeasurable 
injury  on  the  slaves  themselves  whose  benefit  they  profess  to 
seek;  more  firmly  riveting  their  chains  ;  shutting  them  out  from 
])rivileges  which  they  would  otherwise  enjoy;  and  madly  in- 
dulging in  conduct  adapted  to  plunge  both  the  Church  and  the 
State  into  calamities  which  they  can  never  repair.  Whether 
God,  in  his  sovereign  wisdom,  will  permit  these  brethren,  some 
of  whom,  I  have  no  doubt,  really  believe  they  are  doing  him 
service — to  pursue  their  frantic  course,  until  they  realize  that 
consummation  to  which  it  so  manifestly  tends,  we  must  wait  to 
see  developed  by  his  adorable  providence.  In  the  mean  while, 
I  will  cling  to  the  hope,  until  compelled  to  give  it  up,  that  a 
large  majority  of  our  church  will  frown  on  the  conduct  of  those 
brethren,  and  refuse  to  take  another  step  in  concurrence  with  a 
course  so  demented  and  destructive. 

"  With  fervent  prayers  that  you  and  I,  and  all  our  brethren 
who  may  be  called  to  act  iu  the  present  exigency,  may  be  di- 


286  LABORS    FRUITLESS    AND    FRUITFUL.      [CH.  31.  1. 

reeled  by  heavenly  wisdom  to  those  measures  which  v>dll  secure 
the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church,  I  am,  rev'd  and  dear  Sir, 
your  affectionate  brother  in  Christ, 

'  Princeton,  April  15,  1837.  Samuel  Miller.' 

As  reo-arded  Voluntary  Associations  and  Ecclesiastical 
Boards,  Dr.  Miller  came  to  the  conclusion,  (1)  that  every 
church  "ought  to  consider  herself,  in  her  ecclesiastical  ca- 
pacity, as  a  Missionary  and  Education  Society,"  bound 
to  propagate  the  Gospel,  and  train  up  a  well  qualified  and 
faithful  ministry,  according  to  her  own  distinctive  forms 
and  tenets  ;  and  that  denominational  agencies  were  further 
recommended  by  the  fact  that  multitudes  preferred  them, 
and  would  not,  without  them,  as  zealously  and  liberally  as 
they  might,  if  at  all,  provide  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
cause  of  Christ :  (2)  that  union  voluntary  associations 
could  reach  some  fields  of  usefulness,  and  draw  out  some 
contributions  and  efforts,  which  ecclesiastical  boards  could 
not,  and  should  therefore  be  encouraged,  but  only  as 
secondary  objects:  (3)  that  there  need  be  no  hostility,  no 
strife,  between  union  and  church  agencies ;  and  that  the 
most  perfect  harmony  should  attend  their  simultaneous 
operations.  Not  very  long  after  the  publication  of  this 
work,  he  was  constrained  to  regard  the  actual  management 
of  both  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  and  the 
American  Education  Society,  as  much  more  hostile  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  itself,  as  well  as 
to  those  of  its  boards,  than  he  now  permitted  himself  to 


imagine. 


The  New  School  have  throughout  contended  for  a  lax 
interpretation  of  the  terms  of  subscription  to  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  required  of  ministers,  ruling-elders  and  dea- 
cons in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Some  few  persons  have 
stickled  for  every  idea,  nay,  almost  every  word,  of  the  Con- 
fession and  Catechisms,  as  binding  upon  the  conscience  of 
the  subscriber.  This  was  by  no  means  Dr.  Miller's  view. 
He  considered  such  absolute  uniformity  of  creed  quite  in- 
consistent with  human  imperfection  and  liberty  of  thought — 
in  fact  utterly  impossible ;  but  he  pointedly  condemned,  as 
a  subterfuge,  that  interpretation  of  the  prescribed  formula, 
which  made  it  a  reception  of  the  standards  only  so  far  as 
they  agreed,   in  the  opinion  of  each   subscriber,  with  the 


1833.]       LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  237 

"Word  of  God  ;  lie  regarded  the  terms  of  subscription  as  re- 
quiring the  strictest  Calvinism ;  and  he  virtually  repro- 
bated the  assumption  that  they  demanded  only  the  "  es- 
sentials of  Christianity,"  or  "the  substance  of  doctrine."^ 
Moreover  he  said, 

"If  the  brethren  of  the  "New  School"  xdll  persist  in  the  pub- 
lic, habitual  use  of  a  theological  language,  which  impartial 
judges  consider  as  Pelagian  in  its  obvious  import ; — if  they  will 
pay  no  regard  to  the  distressing  apprehensions  of  multitudes 
of  their  brethen,  who  are  grieved  in  regard  to  this  subject; — if 
they  idll  venture,  notwithstanding  all  the  irritability  of  the 
public  mind  in  relation  to  the  matter,  to  license  and  ordain 
men  who  give  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  they  do  not,  ex 

1  The  difficulties  with  which  the  Old  School  had  to  contend,  as  to  this  mat- 
ter of  subscription,  are  strikingly  illustrated  by  a  revelation  made,  with  an 
innocent  unconsciousness  quite  remarkable,  in  the  Autobiography  of  Dr. 
Beecher.  His  son  Charles,  before  applj'ing  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fort  Wayne, 
in  1844,  for  ordination,  inquired  whether  his  assent  to  the  Confession  of  Faith 
implied  an  unqualified  acceptance  of  every  article  of  the  Confession,  or  whether 
the  Confession  was  to  be  taken  for  substance.  "  I  can  accept  it,"  he  said,  ^' yet 
80  that  my  liberty  of  differing  therewith,  in  all  cases  where  there  is  question 
of  agreement  with  Scripture,  be  not  diminished,  but  rather  established." 

"He  also  stated  that  while,  to  his  mind,  in  some  respects,  the  Confession,  ac- 
cording to  the  present  popular  understanding  of  its  language,  failed  to  give  an 
entirely  just  expression  of  the  spirit  of  the  Bible,  nevertheless  he  admitted  that 
it  plainly  recognized  all  the  fundamental  facts  necessary  to  salvation." 

Dr.  Beecher  replied,  quoting  the  Confession  : — '"  The  Supreme  Judge,  by 
whom  all  controversies  of  religion  are  to  be  determined,  and  all  decrees  of 
councils,  opinions  of  ancient  writers,  doctrines  of  men,  and  private  spirits,  are 
to  be  examined,  and  in  whose  sentence  we  are  to  rest,  can  be  no  other  but  the 
Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  Scripture."  (Ch.  II.  10.)  "This  provision,"  said 
he,  "was  intended  to  meet  just  such  difficulties  as  you  feel  about  some  things." 

"In  accepting  the  Confession,  j^ou  do  not  profess  to  believe  that  it  contains 
all  that  the  Bible  contains,  or  that  it  is  as  unerring  as  the  Bible  is,  but  that  it 
does  comprehend  the  system  of  fundamental  doctrines  taught  in  the  Bible. 

"  There  have  always  been  two  different  expositions  of  the  meaning  of  the 
Confession  on  some  doctrinal  points  from  the  beginning,  in  respect  to  which 
both  parties  appeal  to  the  Bible,  and  have  been  allowed  to  differ,  as  holding 
substantially  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  system  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures." 

"You  are  sound  enough  to  make  all  safe.  "-••"  "-•■'  Be  of  good  cheer,  and 
leave  off  pulling  up  the  roots  of  things  all  at  once  just  now  :  provide  no  mark 
for  the  enemy  to  fire  at,  and  all, -with  diligence  and  spirituality,  will  go  well. 

"To  this  excellent  advice  Henry  Ward  adds  the  following:  "Preach  little 
doctrine  except  what  is  of  mould}'  orthodoxy;  keep  all  your  improved  breeds, 
your  short-horned  Durhams,  your  Berkshires,  etc.,  away  off  to  pasture.  They 
will  get  fatter,  and  nobody  will  be  scared.  Take  hold  of  the  most  practical  sub- 
jects ;  popularize  your  sermons.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  change  yourself;  but, 
for  a  time,  while  captious  critics  are  lurking,  adapt  j'our  mode  so  as  to  insure 
that  you  shall  be  rightly  understood."    (  Autobiography,  475-477.) 

To  second  efficiently  the  advice  thus  j-iven,  and  overawe  opposition,  Dr. 
Beecher  attended  the  meeting  of  presbytery,  and  carried  his  hesitating  son  tri- 
umphantly through. 

Vol.  II.— 21 


238  LABORS   FRUITLESS  AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  1. 

animo,  receive  the  doctrines  and  order  of  our  Church;  and  if, 
whenever  a  question  arises,  in  our  higher  judicatories,  respect- 
ing doctrinal  soundness,  they  ivill  always  sustain  and  acquit  lax 
theology,  to  whatever  extreme  it  may  go ; — I  say,  if  they  will 
pursue^ this  course,  it  requires  no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  foresee, 
that  growing  alienation,  strife,  and  eventual  rupture  must  be 
the  consequence."^ 

While  pointedly  condemning  ^' elective  affinity  "  church 
courts,  as  a  violation  of  Presbyterian  order,  Dr.  Miller,  in 
his  Letters,  admitted  that,  had  he  been  in  the  Assembly  of 

1832,  he  would  have  voted  for  the  erection  of  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  ground,  however,  not  of 
doctrinal  diversity,  but  of  alienation  of  feeling,  and  the  un- 
wieldy size  of  the  old  body. 

The  reality  and  preciousness  of  revivals  of  religion  were 
recognized  in  the  letters  on  this  subject,  but  spurious  revi- 
vals were  exhibited  as  great  evils.  The  Holy  Spirit,  for 
several  years  previous,  had  been  poured  out  so  remarkably 
over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  that  the  whole 
subject  was  one  of  general  and  peculiar  interest.  Mr.  Net- 
tleton  had  continued  his  labors,  as  an  evangelist,  until,  in 

1833,  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Pastoral  Duty  in  the 
Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut,  at  East  Windsor  ; 
although,  subsequently  to  a  severe  sickness  in  1822,  from 
the  efiects  of  which  he  never  fully  recovered,  his  success 
had  not  been  so  marked  as  before.  After  the  revival  labors 
of  the  Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney,  in  1826  and  1827,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  subject  of  "New  Measures"  had 
agitated  the  churches  exceedingly.  About  the  time  of  his 
entrance  upon  his  professorship, — probably  while  the  "Let- 
ters to  Presbyterians"  were  in  the  course  of  publication, — 
Mr.  Nettleton  had  visited  Princeton,  and  spent  some  days 
under  Dr.  Miller's  roof,  making  "New  Measures"  and 
"New  Divinity"  the  two  great  staples  of  his  conversation. 
With  Presbyterians  and  Congregation alist*s,  they  were 
among  the  most  exciting  religious  topics  of  the  day. 

Dr.  Miller  had  himself  witnessed,  near  at  hand,  some- 
thing of  the  effects  of  New  Measures.  Mr.  Flavel  S. 
Mines,  who  ended  his  ministry  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  as 
an  ultra  high  churchman,  began  it,  while  a  student  of  the 
Seminary,  as  a  volunteer  revivalist,  at  Jugtown,  more  ele- 

ip.  126. 


1833.]       LETTERS  TO  PRESBYTERIANS.  239 

gantly  ycleped  Queenstown,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  from 
the  institution.  Having  hastily  caught  up  some  of  the 
ideas  prevalent  among  Mr.  Finney's  admirers  and  follow- 
ers, he  here  found  a  stage  for  exhibiting  them,  upon  a 
small  scale,  with  their  usual  issues  in  temporary  excite- 
ment, and  ultimate  mischief  and  disrepute.  Said  Dr. 
Miller, 

"The  principal  of  these  [New  Measures]  are, — at  the  end  of 
a  warm  and  pungent  discourse, — calling  upon  all  who  are  more 
or  less  impressed  by  it,  and  who  have  formed  the  resolution  to 
attend  to  the  subject  of  religion,  to  rise  from  their  seats,  and 
declare  their  purpose  before  the  public  assembly ; — or,  request- 
ing all  who  are  willing  to  be  prayed  for,  to  rise  and  come  for- 
ward to  a  particular  part  of  the  church,  and  kneel  together  for 
that  purpose ; — or,  inviting  all  who  are  anxious  about  their  ever- 
lasting welfare,  to  separate  themselves  publicly  from  the  rest  of 
the  congregation,  and  to  occupy  certain  seats,  called  anxious 
seats  '•'  *  In  short,  this  machinery  for  working  on  the  popu- 
lar feeling  may  be  and  has  been  endlessly  diversified."^ 

The  opposition  of  many  of  the  Old  School  to  New  Mea- 
sures, and  to  other  practical  out-workings  of  the  New 
Theology,  was  frequently  stigmatized  as  opposition  to  re- 
vivals. It  was  Dr.  Miller's  design  to  repel  this  slander,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  condemn  the  irregularities  and  extrava- 
gances which  had  crept  into  the  Church  under  the  guise  of 
special  zeal  for  God.  "We  must  not  undervalue,"  he  said, 
the  ordinary  means  of  grace,  nor  make  too  common  or 
cheap  those  which  maybe  called  extraordinary."  "It  is 
of  great  importance  in  revivals  to  guard  against  a  sudden 
introduction  to  the  Church  of  those  who  are  hopefully  made 
the  subjects  of  converting  grace."  "The  real  friends  of  re- 
vivals of  religion  ought  to  be  upon  their  guard  against  the 
confident  allegation,  that  the  preaching  of  certain  new 
opinions  is  alone  favorable  to  revivals ;  and  that  those  who 
adhere  to  the  system  of  old  orthodoxy  cannot  hope  to  be, 
in  this  respect,  extensively,  if  at  all,  useful"  ;  and  "against 
the  arrogant  claims  of  some  to  peculiar,  nay,  to  almost  ex- 
clusive skill  and  power  in  this  great  concern."" 

In  the  letters  on  "Adherence  to  Presbyterial  Order,"  Dr. 
Miller  mentions,  as  prevailing  irregularities,  (1)  the  intro- 
duction of  men  into  office  in  the  Church,  without  the  pre- 

1  P.  ir)8.  2  Pp.  174^  178,  183,  185. 


240  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  2. 

scribed  qualifications,  and  without  regular  subscription  ;  (2) 
unauthorized  laj-preaching  ;  (3)  presenting  for  subscription 
to  candidates  for  license  and  ordination,  instead  of  the 
proper  Confession,  a  brief  substitute  designed  for  easy  re- 
ception ;  and  (4)  the  admission  of  Congregational  com- 
mittee-men, in  place  of  ruling-elders,  into  Synods  and  the 
General  Assembly.  The  remaining  letters  need  not  here 
be  particularly  noticed. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  these  letters  were  not  in- 
tended to  show  how  the  Old  School  might  overcome  the 
New,  and  thus  purify  the  Church ;  but,  proceeding  upon 
the  idea  that  existing  evils  were  not  so  great  as  some 
imagined,  and  that  conciliation  was  more  needed  than  dis- 
cipline. Dr.  Miller  sought,  by  gentle  means,  to  bring  erring 
brethren  to  repentance,  and  to  induce  his  own  side  to  treat 
them  with  more  forbearance  and  brotherly  confidence.  It 
was  hardly  a  mark  of  timidity,  that,  in  pursuing  this  course, 
he  braved  the  censure  of  both  parties  ;  and,  possibly,  it 
was  not  to  his  discredit,  that  he  learned  some  things  during 
a  seven  years'  conflict,  and  was  ready  to  change  his  opin- 
ions, with  increasing  light  and  knowledge,  and  candidly  to 
avow  the  change. 

2.  Miscellaneous  Topics. 

The  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  year  were 
unusually  tranquil,  and  less  protracted  than  common. 
The  reason  of  this,  however,  was  that  the  New  School  had 
again  skilfully  secured  a  majority,  and  that  they  dexter- 
ously evaded  the  consideration  of  the  case  of  the  Synod 
and  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Synod  remonstrated,  but,  after  a  vain 
attempt  to  induce  them  to  withdraw  their  remonstrance,  it 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures,  who 
suppressed  it.  The  Synod,  at  its  next  meeting  in  October, 
recognized,  under  protest,  the  Second  Presbytery,  but 
only  to  dissolve  it,  and  restore  its  members  to  the  old  body, 
which  they  now  divided,  geographically,  by  the  line  of 
Market  street,  giving  the  name  of  the  Second  Presbytery 
to  the  prcsbyterial  constituents  north  of  that  line.  Thus 
there  was  a  Synod's  Second  Presbytery,  and  an  Assembly's 
Second  Presbytery ;  for  the  latter  body  would  not  recog- 


1833.]  MISCELLANEOUS    TOPICS.  241 

nize  the  legality  of  its  dissolution,  and,  having  appealed  to 
the  Greneral  Assemblj^,  was  really  in  existence,  at  least 
until  the  appeal  could  be  heard  and  decided.  Before,  in 
refusing  to  submit  to  the  Assembly,  the  Synod  had  acted 
both  unconstitutionally  and  contumaciously.  At  present, 
it  was  constitutionally  contumacious ;  or,  if  that  be  a 
solecism,  it  had  managed  to  bring  its  old,  unyielding 
spirit  of  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  Assembly  within 
the  letter  of  the  Constitution.  We  must  accord  to  the 
actors  in  these  scenes,  on  both  sides,  a  Christian  regard  to 
what  they  considered  the  best  interests  of  religion  ;  but 
we  must,  at  the  same  time,  regret  that  the  ruling  majority, 
whether  in  the  Synod  or  the  Presbytery,  lacked  those 
large,  comprehensive  views,  which  would  have  enabled 
them  to  take  higher  ground  for  the  conflict  of  great  prin- 
ciples in  which  really  they  were  engaged.  Of  course, 
the  whole  matter  must  now  go,  for  adjudication,  to  the 
next  General  Assembly. 

The  following  is  from  Dr.  Miller's  diary : — 

'  June  5,  1833.  This  is  the  anniversary  of  my  ordination  to 
the  work  of  the  holy  ministry,  June  5,  1793.  Forty  years 
have  I  borne  this  sacred,  all-important  office.  When  I  ask 
myself,  how  I  have  borne  it,  what  I  have  done,  what  are  the 
fruits  of  my  poor  ministry — I  feel  as  if  I  had  reason  to  blush 
and  be  ashamed  at  the  recollection.  I  have  reason  indeed  to 
know  that  it  has  not  been  wholly  without  a  blessing,  either  in 
jSTew  York,  or  in  the  place  and  neighborhood  of  my  present 
residence.  But,  alas !  when  I  compare  it  with  what  it  ought  to 
have  been ;  when  I  compare  it  with  the  ministry  of  some  men, 
who  had  not  greater  natural  advantages  than  I  have  ;  I  have 
reason  to  lie  in  the  dust  of  abasement.  They  had  more  faith ; 
more  of  a  spirit  of  fervent,  persevering  prayer ;  and  more  close 
communion  with  God.  Oh,  that  I  might  learn,  more  and 
more,  to  cultivate  a  similar  spirit,  and  to  make  similar  attain- 
ments.    ^     *' 

During  the  month  of  June  Dr.  Miller  prepared  an  ''  In- 
troductory Essay,"  to  "An  Essay  on  the  Spirit  and  Influ- 
ence of  the  Reformation ;  by  C.  Villers,  some  time  Pro- 
fessor of  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Gottingen," 
translated  from  the  French  and  published  in  Philadelphia. 

With  the  Rev.  AVilliam  S.  Plumer,  D.D.,  who  left  the 
Seminary  in,  or  about,  the  year  1827,  Dr.  Miller,   to  the 

21* 


242      LABORS  FRUITLESS  AND  FRUITFUL.   [CH.  3L  2. 

end  of  his  life,  kept  up  an  affectionate  and  not  infrequent 
correspondence.  The  former,  in  1833,  wrote  earnestly 
querying,  ^Yllether  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  would 
not  be  promoted  by  the  General  Assembly's  proposing  in- 
tercourse and  correspondence,  by  letter  or  delegation,  with 
tiie  proper  representative  bodies  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian, Baptist  and  Methodist  Episcopal  churches  in  the 
United  States.  Dr.  Miller  replied,  earnestly  dissuading 
from  any  attempt  in  this  direction.  The  following  are  a 
few  extracts  from  his  letter,  dated  the  28th  of  August : — 

*I  cordially  approve  the  great  object  you  have  in  view. 
Love,  and  union,  and  co-operation  among  professing  Christians 
arc  dear  to  my  heart ;  and  especially  now,  when  the  conversion 
of  the  world  to  God  seems  to  call  for  more  of  all  these  than 
before. 

*  Yet  I  am  perfectly  persuaded,  that  the  correspondence  and 
intercourse  which  you  propose,  in  the  form  of  query,  would  by 
no  means  forward  that  great  object,  but  rather  oppose  and  re- 
tard it.' 

Dr.  Miller  then  went  on  to  explain,  that  while  he 
heartily  approved  of  individual  intercourse  with  Method- 
ists, Baptists  and  others  of  similar  evangelical  views, 
wherever  it  was  possible,  all  his  experience  and  observation, 
and  that  not  a  little,  on  this  subject,  had  convinced  him, 
that  anything  like  general,  denominational  intercourse  with 
them  led  naturally,  not  to  peace  and  love,  but  to  discord 
and  strife  :  that  proper  harmony,  therefore,  depended  upon 
keeping,  denominationally,  at  a  certain  distance.  He  re- 
garded the  Methodists  and  Baptists  as  much  more  sectarian 
in  spirit  than  Presbyterians:  and  the  latter,  on  this  account, 
as  most  likely  to  suffer  in  their  attempts  to  promote  Chris- 
tian fellowship.     He  added, 

*Last  evening,  happening  to  fall  in  with  Dr.  Alexander,  Dr. 
B.  H.  Rice,  and  Dr.  Carnahan,  in  a  free,  confidential  interview 
for  other  purposes,  I  mentioned  my  having  received  your  letter, 
"'  *  but  without  giving  a  hint  of  your  name,  or  place  of 
residence,  that  I  might  obtain  their  perfectly  impartial  opinion 
on  the  subject.  They  unanimously  concurred  in  the  sentiments 
which  I  have  above  expressed — some  of  them  in  even  stronger 
terms  than  I  have  used ;  and  that,  before  I  had  said  one  word 
expressive  of  my  opinion. 

'My  dear  Brother,  I  know  your  heart  is  full  of  love  to  the 


183#]     *  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  243 

Christian  body  and  to  the  world.  I  have  admired  the  delight- 
ful enthusiasm  which  you  have  manifested  in  this  cause.  Go 
on.  Try  to  rouse  up,  and  animate,  and  purify  Presbyterians  ; 
and  this  will  be  the  most  effectual  method  of  attaining  the  end 
you  have  in  view.  *  "^  This  is  the  right  handle  to  take 
hold  of.' 

At  its  fall  meeting,  in  this  year,  the  Presbytery  of 
Louisville  adopted  a  resolution,  requesting  Dr.  Miller  "  to 
prepare  and  publish,  as  soon  as  practicable,  a  catechism 
upon  the  Scriptural  authority,  etc.,  of  the  Presbyterian 
form  of  government,  adapted  to  the  youth  of  the  Church." 
His  answer  to  this  request  was  probably  in  the  negative, 
on  account,  perhaps,  of  his  pre-occupation  with  other  pro- 
jects more  congenial  to  his  taste,  if  for  no  other  reason, 
because  they  were  strictly  his  own. 

The  followino^  extract  is  from  a  letter  of  the  14th  of 
October  to  the  Rev.  Elisha  P.  Swift : — 

'I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  of  the  proposed  missionary  meeting  this 
evening  in  the  Wall  street  Church.  It  would  give  me  peculiar 
pleasure  to  be  present  and  to  take  a  part  in  the  exercises.  No 
secular  business,  that  I  can  easily  think  of,  should  prevent  my 
enjoying  this  privilege.  But  situated  as  I  am,  I  must  deny  my- 
self the  gratification.  Our  Synod  meets  to-morrow  afternoon 
at  Newton,  in  Sussex  County,  sixty  miles  from  this  place.  For 
several  special  reasons  I  consider  it  as  my  duty  to  be  there ; 
and  have  accordingly  made  arrangements  for  setting  out,  this 
morning,  for  that  place,  which,  I  am  persuaded,  ought  not  to 
be  abandoned. 

'  But,  my  dear  Sir,  though  necessarily  absent  in  body,  I  shall 
be  present  with  you  in  spirit ;  and  I  hope,  in  some  measure, 
engaged  in  private,  in  imploring  a  blessing  on  your  meeting.  I 
rejoice  that  Ethiopia  is  beginning,  in  good  earnest,  to  "stretch 
forth  her  hands  unto  God."  I  rejoice  that  our  promising  and 
incalculably  important  colony  in  Liberia  (which  may  God,  of 
his  infinite  mercy,  protect,  extend  and  bless !)  is  likely  to  re- 
ceive new  and  valuable  accessions  of  light  and  strength.  And 
I  rejoice  that  the  "Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,"  is 
advancing  with  plans  which  appear  to  me  so  judicious,  and 
with  strides  so  vigorous.  Every  thing  at  the  present  day  seems 
to  conspire  to  encourage  and  animate  in  the  missionary  enter- 
prize.  The  state  of  the  heathen  nations  and  the  state  of  our 
own  country,  alike,  call  us  to  redoubled  efibrt.  The  whole 
heathen  world  is  now,  with  very  little  exception,  wide  open  be- 


244  LABORS   FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  Si.  2. 

fore  us,  and,  if  not  actually,  yet  virtually,  inviting  the  labours 
of  christian  benevolence.  And  our  own  country  was  never  so 
well  able  to  answer  this  call,  and  to  send  to  the  benighted  and 
the  perishing  the  light  of  life,  as  at  this  hour.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances surely  every  consideration  both  of  piety  and  hu- 
manity calls  upon  us  to  be  active;  to  extend  our  plans;  to 
cherish  new  zeal ;  and  to  endeavour  to  secure  the  cooperation  and 
the  prayers  of  every  one  who  wishes  well  to  the  Church  of  God, 
and  to  the  cause  of  human  improvement  and  happiness. 

'It  is  delightful  to  see  a  new  spirit  rising  in  reference  to  that 
greatest  of  all  objects,  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  God.  The 
time  has  been,  when  serious  Christians  were  apprehensive,  that 
the  spirit  of  Foreign  Missions,  if  cherished  and  acted  upon,  be- 
yond certain  very  moderate  bounds,  would  exhaust  the  resources 
and  impair  the  strength  of  the  churches  at  home.  This  error, 
I  trust,  is  now  beginning  to  be  abandoned  by  the  most  of  those 
who  study  the  word  of  God,  and  regard  the  dispensations  of  his 
providence.  They  begin  to  see  that  efforts  to  spread  the  gospel 
abroad  are  the  surest  pledge  of  its  power  and  success  at  home ; 
that  when  such  efforts  are  sincerely  and  fervently  made,  they 
never  fail  to  rouse,  to  animate,  and  to  draw  down  a  blessing 
upon  those  who  make  them  ;  and  that,  of  course,  however  feeble 
and  impoverished  a  church  may  be,  one  of  the  very  best  means 
of  enlarging,  strengthening  and  building  herself  up,  is  to  en- 
gage, heart  and  hand  in  the  hallowed  work  of  sending  the  gos- 
pel to  the  benighted  and  the  perishing.  Oh,  if  we  could  hear 
of  all  the  churches  being  united  as  one  man  in  feeling,  praying 
and  laboring  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  we  might  cer- 
tainly conclude  that  the  time,  even  the  set  time  to  favour  Zion, 
in  a  glorious  manner,  had  come.  That  Christian  is  the  best 
friend  to  the  revival  and  spread  of  religion  at  home,  and  does 
most,  effectually,  to  promote  it,  who  is  most  zealous,  active  and 
prayerful  in  the  great  Avork  of  sending  the  Gospel  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the  going  down  of  the  same.' 

Here  are  extracts  again  from  the  diary : — 

'October  24,  1833.  This  is  the  thirty-second  anniversary  of 
my  marriage.  *  *  The  advantages 

derived  from  her,  [his  wife,]  in  respect  to  my  experience  and 
course  as  a  Christian,  and  my  duties  as  a  minister  and  pro- 
fessor, arc  so  many  and  great,  that  1  cannot  presume  to  mea- 
sure them.  She  has  been  a  counsellor,  a  helper,  a  guide  in 
duty,  at  once  enlightened,  conscientious,  zealous  and  firm.  In- 
stead of  finding  her  advice  and  influence  to  be  on  the  side  of 
"^orldly  show  and  worldly  indulgence,  I  have  found  it  uniformly 


183-1:.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  245 

on  the  side  of  self-denial,  of  "witlidrawment  from  every  form  of 
secular  parade,  and  of  devotedness  to  spiritual  attainment  and 
duty.  I  have  considered  her,  year  after  year,  as  going  more 
and  more  before  her  husband  in  spirituality,  and  in  fidelity  to 
the  best  of  causes.     "•'     "^ ' 

'October  31, 1833.  *  *  lam 

a  wonder  to  myself.  I  have  enjoyed  better  health  for  the  last 
year,  felt  stronger  and  more  comfortable,  and  been  enabled  to 
go  through  a  larger  amount  of  pulpit  labour,  with  ease  to  my- 
self, than  for  any  year  within  the  last  twenty.     '''     ^^' ' 

In  iSfovcmber,  1833,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  upon 
overtures  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  and  Hunt- 
ingdon, appointed  a  Board  of  Managers  of  "The  Presby- 
terian Tract  and  Sunday-school  Book  Society."  This  so- 
ciety was  to  have  its  business  location  in  the  City  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  to  be  under  the  care  of  the  Synod.  It  grew, 
subsequently,  into  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication. 

In  his  diary  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'December  3,  1833.  This  is  the  anniversary  of  my  arrival 
in  Princeton,  with  my  family,  when  I  came  to  take  possession 
of  the  professor's  chair  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 
Government.  The  amazing  goodness  of  God,  in  raising  me  up 
from  a  severe  illness  of  Typhus  fever,  which  had  immediately 
preceded  my  removal,  and  delayed  it  for  more  than  six  weeks ; 
and  in  sustaining  me  in  my  removal  under  extreme  weakness, 
I  desire  here  humbly  and  gratefully  to  record.  And  for  all 
the  mercies  which  have  marked  ray  feeble  and  imperfect  labours 
in  this  place,  I  would  praise  and  magnify  the  name  of  him  who 
has  bestowed  them.  "Having  obtained  help  of  God,  I  con- 
tinue unto  this  day." ' 

3.  Correspondence. 

To  Mr.  Stuart,  agent  of  "The  New  Jersey  Howard  So- 
ciety," Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  28th  of  January,  1834, 

'  *  "^  I  hope  that  means  will  be  employed  to  engage  as  many 
friends  and  patrons  in  this  cause  as  possible,  in  every  part  of 
the  State ;  ^  *  always  rememberiifg,  that  whenever  you  can 
prevail  upon  an  individual  to  take  an  interest  in  the  poor,  the 
friendless  and  the  prisoner,  and  to  devote  a  j^ortion  of  his  time 
and  substance  to  the  bettering  of  their  condition,  you  confer 
upon  that  individual  himself  a  rich  benefit. 

*I  feel  especially  an  ardent  desire,  that  the  young  men  of  our 
neighbourhood,  and  of  the  State  at  large,  should  be,  as  far  as 


'24:6  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND   FRUITFUL.  [OH.   31.  8. 

possible,  engaged  in  this  enterprise.  I  hope,  my  dear  Sir,  that 
neither  you,  nor  any  other  zealous  friends  in  the  work  of  benevo- 
lence in  which  you  are  engaged,  will  be  discouraged,  though 
comparatively  few  should  unite  with  you  at  first,  and  though 
even  a  part  of  these  should  soon  become  w^eary  in  well-doing. 
Few  have  a  taste  for  doing  good,  and  fewer  still  such  a  degree 
of  it  as  will  prompt  them  to  persevere,  without  weariness,  in 
labours  to  benefit,  as  our  Lord  commands,  even  "  the  unthankful 
and  the  evil."  But  this  painful  fact  ought  neither  to  depress 
nor  intimidate  us  in  our  benevolent  efforts.  The  less  others  are 
willing  to  do,  the  more  remains  to  be  done  by  us ;  and  at  this  we 
ought  neither  to  repine  nor  complain  ;  but  rather  to  consider  it 
as  a  privilege  to  wear  out  in  endeavouring  to  promote  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind. 

'Be  pleased  to  put  down  my  name  as  a  member  of  your 
association,  and  the  first  time  we  meet  I  will  hand  you  the  con- 
tribution expected  of  members.  May  he  who  sits  as  "  Governor- 
among  the  nations,"  preside  in  your  meeting!  May  he  raise  up 
friends  to  your  society  in  every  part  of  the  State!  And  may 
he  render  all  your  efforts  effectual  in  promoting  the  temporal 
and  eternal  happiness  of  the  poor,  the  prisoner,  the  degraded, 
and  those  who  have  none  but  you,  under  God,  to  help  them.' 

One  consequence  of  the  agitated,  troubled  condition  of 
the  Church  was,  that  it  suffered,  with  all  its  institutions, 
from  a  diminution  of  pecuniary  support.  Perhaps  the 
course  of  the  professors  themselves,  not  satisfying  either 
party,  was  one  cause  of  this  difficulty,  so  far  as  they  were 
concerned.  In  November,  1833,  the  treasurer  received 
only  about  one  third  of  what  was  due,  for  their  salaries, 
and  in  consequence,  they  were  reduced  to  distressing  straits. 
On  the  31st  of  the  following  January,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  to 
Dr.  John  McDowell  on  the  subject,  representing  his  own 
circumstances,  and  those  of  his  colleagues,  as  very  painful- 
ly affected,  and,  among  other  suggestions,  adding, 

*  Is  there  the  least  probability  that  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly will  be  able  to  afford  relief?  When  the  members  come 
together,  will  not  two  thirds  of  them  be  pledged  to  other  Semi- 
naries? 

'  Is  not  the  next  General  Assembly  likely  to  be  more  dis- 
tracted and  divided  than  any  one  for  a  number  of  years  ?  And, 
if  so,  what  hope  can  we  have  for  our  institution? 

'Is  not  the  only  field  in  which  we  can  hope  to  glean  for  our 
Seminary  becoming  more  and  more  narrow  every  day?  Is  it 
entirely  wise,  therefore,  to  wait  for  the  orders  of  the  General 


1834.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  247 

Assembly,  when  their  committee  is  now  vested  with  all  power, 
except  that  of  borrowing  ? 

*I  throw  out  these  hints,  my  dear  Brother,  merely  for  consid- 
eration. Perhaps  they  are  unworihy  of  regard.  In  the  mean- 
while, you  may  rely  upon  it,  we  are  put  to  our  trumps  to  get 
along  from  day  to  day.' 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year,  things  loolced  more  hopeful. 
Writing  to  Dr.  McDowell,  on  the  15th  of  December,  Dr. 
Miller  said, 

'  I  thank  you  sincerely,  my  dear  Brother,  for  your  kind  at- 
tention to  our  wants ;  and  also  for  the  encouraging  manner  in 
which  you  write.  I  hope  things  will  come  riglit  by  and  by ; 
but,  in  the  mean  time,  the  "Act  and  Testimony  "  brethren  ap- 
pear to  be  very  unrelenting.  I  hope  their  eyes  will  be  opened 
before  long.' 

This  promise  of  relief,  however,  proved  fallacious.  Only 
a  little  more  than  a  month  later,  he  again  wrote, 

'You  requested  me  to  inform  you  of  our  wants.  Dr.  Alex- 
ander mentioned  to  me  to-day,  that  he  was  really  distressed  for 
want  of  his  salary.  Almost  two  full  quarters  are  now  due.  *  * 
All  our  students'  scholarships  remain  unpaid,  *  ^  and,  as  the 
winter  recess  will  commence  in  twelve  or  fourteen  days,  they 
will  be  obliged  to  separate  without  having  received  a  farthing, 
unless  the  dividends  are  sent  soon.' 

"The  Pastoral  Union  of  Connecticut"  was  formed,  in 

1833,  by  the  opponents  of  Xew  Haven  Theology,  as  a  bar- 
rier to  its  progress;  and  by  this  Union  "The  East  Wind- 
sor Theological  Institute  "  was  established.  The  Union 
framed  and  issued  an  original  Creed,  which  was  so  indefi- 
nite, on  several  important  points,  that  it  did  not  satisfy 
all  the  advocates  of  old  orthodoxy.^     On  the  14th  of  March, 

1834,  Dr.  Miller,  in  his  kindly  spirit,  wrote  to  Mr.  Net- 
tleton, 

*  I  thank  you,  my  dear  Brother,  for  the  aflectionate  freedom 
with  which  you  have  written.  Dr.  Alexander  and  myself  were 
both  sorry  to  see  the  piece  signed  B.  in  the  Presbyterian.  It 
is  far  from  expressing  our  feelings.  Our  views  and  feelings 
with  respect  to  "The  Pastoral  Union  of  Connecticut"  are  not 
only  amicable,  but  cordial  and  fraternal.  We  view  it  as  a 
most  desirable  and  important  association,  embarked  in  a  great 
and  good   cause,  and   likely  to  accomplish  a  very  important 

1  'e©  Dr.  Baird's  Hist,  of  New  School,  205-207. 


248  LABORS    FRUITLESS    AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  4. 

object.  True,  indeed,  in  looking  over  tlieir  published  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  we  do  not  find  every  word  exactly  as  we  could 
have  wished ;  but  we  find  quite  enough  in  it  that  we  approve, 
to  be  a  basis  of  afiectionate  confidence,  and  unfeigned  good- 
will. 

*If  you  can  pick  up  anything  to  helj)  that  institution  within/ 
our  bounds,  do  not  hesitate  to  do  it.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
we  are  almost  starving  ourselves,  and  cannot  raise  money  to 
pay  our  own  salaries ;  so  that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  actual 
suffering,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  pressing  straits.  But  some  may 
be  disposed  to  help  you  that  will  not  help  us.  Receive,  without 
scruple,  whatever  you  can  get. 

'  I  hope  you  will  take  Princeton  in  your  way,  and  stay  as 
long  as  you  can,  and  make  our  house  your  home.' 

A  valued  female  friend  and  correspondent  of  Mrs.  Mil- 
ler's wrote,  on  the  3d  of  April,  '  Will  you  please  to  pre- 
sent my  best  respects  to  Dr.  Miller,  whose  kind  prayer, 
offered  for  me  when  parting  from  you,  often  recurs  to  my 
mind  with  feelings  of  deep  gratitude  ?  I  trust  it  has  been 
answered  to  my  soul's  welfare.' 

To  a  work  entitled,  "History  of  Popery."  ^'By  a 
Watchman,"  Dr.  Miller  contributed  an  Introductory  Es- 
say, which  bears  date  of  the  28th  of  March,  1834.  This 
essay,  though  exhibiting  only  the  charges  against  Popery 
in  which  Protestants  generally  are  agreed,  was  testily  re- 
viewed by  "A  Catholic  Layman" — Matthew  Carey,  Es- 
quire, of  Philadelphia,  in  an  "Address  to  the  Public,"  the 
first  part  of  which,  dated  August  22d,  appeared  in  the 
Daily  National  Intelligencer,  of  Washington,  on  the  6th 
of  September.  This  Address  was  afterwards  published  in 
pamphlet  form.^  Mr.  Carey  was  a  very  liberal  Romanist, 
which  rendered  him  less  tolerant  of  Avhat  he,  though  un- 
reasonably, regarded  as  Protestant  intolerance.  His  con- 
cessions, in  respect  to  Popish  fallibility,  brought  upon  him 
the  condemnation  of  some,  in  his  own  Church,  who  enter- 
tained ultra-montane  notions.  Dr.  Miller  replied  briefly, 
under  date  of  the  12th  of  September,  in  the  Protestant 
Vindicator. 

4.  The  General  Assembly  of  1834. 

The  General  Assembly  met  in  the  Seventh  Church  in 
Philadelphia  on   the  15th  of  May.     On  the  18th,  in   the 

'  Its  motto:  "Quousquc  tandem  abutcrc  paticntia  nostra,"  Millere? 


1834.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  249 

evening,  Dr.  Miller  preached  before  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, at  their  request,  in  tlie  Central  Church  ;  and  the  ser- 
mon was  afterwards  published.^     The  preacher  said, 

" there  are,  at  this  moment,  within  the  bounds  of  the 

Presbyterian  Church,  more  than  six  hundred  vacant  con- 
gregations :  congregations  which  are  not  only  destitute  of 
pastors,  but  which  cannot  possibly  be  supplied  with  them,  with- 
out a  corresponding  addition  to  the  number  of  our  ministerial 
laborers.  Besides  these  vacant  congregations,  many  of  which 
are  ready  and  loudly  calling  for  pastors,  and  languishing  and 
declining  for  want  of  them — I  say,  besides  these — there  are  at 
least  four  or  five  hundred  populous  districts,  north, 
south,  and  west,  in  which,  if  we  had  zealous  and  able  ministers 
to  send  to  them,  large  and  flourishing  congregations  might  be 
speedily  formed.  So  that  our  beloved  church,  at  the  present 
hour,  most  urgently  needs  more  than  a  thousand  ministers, 
over  and  above  her  present  supply.     *     * 

"  But  besides  all  these  loud  calls  for  many  more  ministers ; 
besides  the  large  supj^ly  demanded  for  vacant  churches,  and 
the  extended  frontier  settlements  within  our  own  borders ; 
there  is  a  much  larger  harvest  still,  which  calls  for  a  far 
greater  number  of  laborers  than  any  which  has  been  men- 
tioned. I  mean  the  heathen  world.  Had  any  one  told 
the  apostle  Paul,  in  the  midst  of  his  arduous  and  devoted 
labors,  that  at  the  end  of  eighteen  centuries  from  his  time, 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  whole  human  race  would  still 
be  covered  with  pagan  darkness,  what  would  have  been  the 
feelings  of  that  heroic,  noble-minded  missionary?  Yet  so  the 
humbling,  appalling  fact  is  !"^ 

In  this  Assembly,  the  New  School  party  again  had  such 
a  decided  majority,  that  they  abandoned  their  previous  tem- 
porizing and  more  conciliatory  tactics,  and  adopted  very 
decisive  measures.  Whether  this  was  to  be  complained  of 
depended,  however,  chiefly  upon  the  question,  whether,  as 
to  their  grand  principles,  they  were  right  or  wrong.  If 
New  Schoolism,  in  doctrine  and  church  order,  was  to  be 
condemned,  so  was  every  measure  designed  to  give  it  pre- 
ponderance and  command.  As  to  the  case  of  the  Assem- 
bly's Second  Presbytery,  it  was  unjustly  decided,  that  the 

i"The  Presbyterian  Preacher.  Pittsburgh,  June,  1834.  Vol.  IIL.  Xo.  1. 
Sermon  xxviii.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History 
and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jer- 
sey.    Plea  for  an  Enlarged  Ministry.     Luke  x.  2." — 8vo.     Pp.  16. 

2  Pp.  3,  4. 

Vol.  II.— 22. 


250  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  4. 

act  dissolving  it  was  void ;  but  the  Synod's  Second  Pres- 
bytery was  recognized,  though  as  containing  none  of  the 
members  belonging  to  the  other,  and  with  the  recommenda- 
tion that  its  name  should  be  changed.  Then,  to  check- 
mate the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  Assembly's  Presbytery 
was  taken  from  it,  together  with  the  Presbyteries  of  Wil- 
minf^ton  and  Lewes,  and  an  elective  affinity  Synod — the 
Synod  of  Delaware — was  formed  of  the  three.  The  object 
of  these  measures,  by  some  at  least  of  their  advocates,  was 
openly  avowed  to  be,  the  security  of  Mr.  Barnes  and 
others  of  a  lax  adherence  to  the  standards,  and  the  greater 
facility  of  licensing  and  ordaining  candidates  equally  lax 
in  their  views.  That  is,  the  Assembly's  Second  Presbytery, 
which  far  outnumbered  both  the  others  together,  was,  if 
not  these  others  likewise,  to  cherish,  in  security,  the  New 
Haven  doctrines,  and,  to  the  extent  of  its  opportunity, 
flood  the  Church  with  them.  The  Third  Presbytery  of 
New  York,  formed,  in  1830,  upon  the  elective  affinity  prin- 
ciple, and  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  after  being  re- 
plenished with  New  School  men,  had  been,  ere  this,  busily 
engaged  in  the  same  promising  work. 

"The  Western  Memorial,"  an  able  paper  prepared  by  a 
conference  of  ministers  and  elders  belonging  to  the  Synod 
of  Cincinnati,  Avas  sent  up,  in  print,  to  the  General  As- 
sembly ;  which  refused  utterly  every  prayer  of  the  memo- 
rialists, censuring,  besides,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  the 
framers  of  this  paper,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  Old  School 
party.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Leach,  of  Virginia,  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  which  drew  up  the  minute  adopted  by  the 
Assembly.  Among  other  things,  it  justified  the  Plan  of 
Union  of  1801 ;  enjoined  the  reception  of  ministers  dis- 
missed by  one  presbytery  to  another  upon  the  simple 
''credit  of  their  constitutional  testimonials";  and  denied 
the  right  to  condemn  the  doctrines  of  a  printed  publication, 
without  trying  regularly  the  author.  It  was  but  a  slight 
compensation  for  these  offensive  and  dangerous  decisions, 
that  the  Assembly's  Board  of  Missions  was  coldly  and  im- 
potcntly  commended.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that 
the  memorialists  had  transcended  the  bounds  of  propriety, 
in  their  severe  reflections  upon  the  acts  of  previous  As- 
semblies, and  of  other  judicatories  of  the  Church  by  name. 


1834.]  THE   ACT    AND    TESTIMONY.  251 

They  were  censured  for  also  ''publishing  to  the  world  Min- 
isters in  good  and  regular  standing,  as  heretical  or  danger- 
ous" ;  but  this  they  had  done  simply  by  a  legitimate  refer- 
ence to  printed  works  by  the  names  which  they  bore  upon 
their  title-pages.  And  the  New  School  majority,  waxing 
bolder,  as  they  proceeded,  strangely  violated  an  express 
constitutional  right  of  their  opponents,  by  refusing  a  place 
on  the  Minutes  to  a  respectful  protest  offered  by  the  latter. 
They  admitted,  nevertheless,  that  elective  affinity  judica- 
tories ought  not  to  be  formed  ''  except  in  very  extraordi- 
nary cases." 

5.    The  Act  and  Testimony. 

The  bold  front  prematurely  assumed  by  the  New  School, 
in  the  Assembly  of  1834,  manifested  great  confidence  in 
their  speedy  triumph,  even  while  it  was  preparing  for  them 
a  sure  and  final  defeat.  During  that  Assembly's  sessions, 
an  Old  School  conference  was  held,  which  resulted,  par- 
ticularly, in  drawing  up  and  publishing  the  famous  "Act 
and  Testimony,"  penned  by  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,^ 
who  obtained,  however,  nearly  the  whole  specification  of 
errors  from  Dr.  Charles  Hodge;  though  the  latter  was 
constrained  to  dissent  from  some  portions  of  the  paper.  It 
was  decided  to  circulate  this  instrument  for  signature  by 
the  ministers  and  elders  of  the  Church  at  large,  and  to  se- 
cure its  adoption  by  as  many  church  judicatories  as  possi- 
ble. "It  was  ultimately  adopted  in  terms  by  about  three 
hundred  and  seventy-four  Ministers,  seventeen  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  Elders,  and  fourteen  Licentiates ;  and  either 
entire  or  substantially  by  five  Synods  and  thirty  Presby- 
teries."^ 

Taking  the  Act  and  Testimony  as  a  whole,  it  was  a  noble 
and  successful  effort,  at  a  grand  crisis,  to  awaken  the 
Church  to  a  sense  of  great  evils,  and  really  alarming  dan- 
ger. It  had  its  vulnerable  points,  which,  directly,  will  be 
designated ;  and  men  thoroughly  orthodox,  and  deeply 
anxious  for  the  Church's  deliverance,  were  clearly  justifia- 
ble in  withholding  from  it,  as  many  did,  their  signatures  and 
full  approval.  But  every  important  human  enterprize  that 
God  ever  blessed,  has  been  justly  liable  to  the  same  criti- 
cism.    The  historian,  at   least,  should  not  permit  minor 

1  Since  D.D.  2  Baird's  Digest,  (1856,)  674. 


252  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.  31.  5. 

blemishes,  seen  only  upon  a  near  approach,  to  mar  his  im- 
pression of  the  grandeur  of  the  whole  object.  The  Prince- 
ton Reviewers  were  right,  for  the  most  part,  perhaps,  in 
their  minute  objections,  and  they  looked,  evidently,  with  a 
single  eye  to  the  w^elfare  of  their  beloved  Church ;  but  they 
certainly  underrated  the  crisis ;  they  underrated  the  Act 
and  Testimony ;  in  their  apprehension  of  inferior  evils, 
they  failed  to  comprehend  those  of  far  greater  magnitude ; 
and  they  contented  themselves,  too  nearly,  w^ith  objecting 
to  the  mistakes,  when  the  occasion  demanded  earnest  co- 
operation, in  one  way  or  another,  in  the  grand  and  unob- 
jectionable purposes,  of  the  Old  School  leaders. 

The  Biblical  Repertory  at  Princeton,  thus  prefaced  its 
notice  of  the  Act  and  Testimony,  after  giving  in  a  few 
lines  its  history  : — 

"  It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  read  this  document,  with- 
out being  deeply  impressed  with  respect  for  its  authors.  It  is 
pervaded  by  a  tone  of  solemn  earnestness,  which  carries  to 
every  heart  the  conviction  of  their  sincerity,  and  of  their  sense 
of  the  importance,  as  well  as  the  truth,  of  the  sentiments  which 
they  advance.  The  fear  of  God,  reverence  for  his  truth,  and  love 
for  his  church,  seem  clearly  to  have  presided  over  the  composi- 
tion of  this  important  document.  In  addition  to  these  intrin- 
sic claims  to  the  respect  of  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  the 
fact  that  it  has  received  the  sanction  of  so  large  a  number  of 
the  best  ministers  of  our  church,  demands  for  it  the  most  seri- 
ous consideration."^ 

It  was  validly  objected  to  the  Act  and  Testimony,  that 
it  embraced  too  much,  and  entered  too  minutely  into  detail, 
venturing  too  many  statements  of  fact  and  opinion,  upon 
•which  the  Old  School  themselves  were  not  agreed,  to 
admit  of  general  signature ;  while  its  friends  were  using  it 
widely  and  offensively  as  a  test  of  orthodoxy,  and  con- 
demning, as  unsound,  all  who  could  not  affix  to  it  their 
names  ;  that  it  treated  previous  Assemblies  with  disrespect, 
and  misrepresented,  however  unintentionally,  their  action  ; 
and  that  it,  virtually,  proposed  nullification  and  revolution. 
These  views  of  it  might  well  prevent  those  who  concurred 
in  them  from  signing  the  paper ;  but,  without  that,  they 
might  have  testified,  unitedly,  their   adhesion   to  its  right 

1  October,  1834.     Art.  vi.,  505. 


1834.]  THE   ACT   AND   TESTIMONY.  253 

principles,  and  joined  heartily  with  its  authors  in  .reform- 
ing the  Church.  Indeed  ultra  Old  School  men,  at  this 
juncture,  needed  nothing  more  than  the  counsels  of  mod- 
erate, but  decided,  coadjutors;  though  it  is  perhaps  true, 
that  no  great  reform  was  ever  accomplished  without  an 
ultraism,  involving  unhappy  excesses,  in  some  of  its  advo- 
cates. 

The  Act  and  Testimony  did  not  state  too  strongly  the 
critical  condition  of  the  Church:  on  this  point  the  "Mod- 
erates" amiably  deceived  themselves.  It  bore  witness 
against  errors  which  really  prevailed  to  an  alarming  extent, 
and  threatened  the  lasting  corruption  of  the  whole  body : 
the  warning  note  was  certainly  not  too  soon  or  too  loudly 
uttered.  There  was  no  impropriety  in  providing  for  its 
circulation  for  additional  signatures,  which  might  add-  to 
its  weight  and  influence.  The  call  of  a  special  convention 
was  perfectly  legitimate,  and  the  crisis  was  exigent  enough 
to  demand  extraordinary  expedients.  This  call  was  by  no 
means,  in  itself,  an  act  of  revolution,  as  some  maintained  ; 
and  its  simple  loyal  character  could  not  be  changed  by 
anything  of  a  revolutionary  aspect  unhappily  admitted 
into  the  same  document.  Least  of  all  was  the  Act  and 
Testimony,  as  the  Princeton  Reviewer  pronounced  it,  a 
failure.  It  no  doubt  had  much  to  do  with  securing  an 
Old  School  majority  in  the  Assembly  of  1835,  and  it 
helped  to  inaugurate  a  series  of  successful  efforts,  of  which 
the  final  excinding  acts  were  but  the  crowning  result. 

An  extract  from  a  work  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  V.  Brown, 
published  more  than  twenty  years  afterward,  will  give  some 
idea  of  the  state  of  things  produced  by  this  collision  between 
the  "Moderates,"  as  they  have  been  called,  and  the  Act 
and  Testimony  men.  The  author,  certainly,  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  an  unbiased  witness,  and  may  have  been  mistaken 
as  to  some  of  the  statements;  but  no  doubt  they  present  a 
substantially  correct  view  of  facts  as  seen  from  the  Act 
and  Testimony  side.  The  "  gentlemen  of  Princeton  "  were 
regarded  as  the  head  and  front  of  Moderatism. 

"The  sympathizers  with  the  Princeton  dissent,  in  general, 
assumed  the  same  position,  [opposing  the  Act  and  Testimony's 
call  for  an  Old  School  reforming  convention  in  1835,]  and  by 
their  action  undesignedly  greatly  strengthened  the  power  of 


254  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.       [CH.   31.  5. 

the  New  School  party.  Even  in  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, a  majority  denounced  the  convention  as  a  caucus,  and 
succeeded  in  preventing  that  Presbytery  from  sending  a  delegate 
to  represent  them  in  that  important  conservative  meeting 
of  the  church  for  consultation.  [The  minority,  however,  sent 
a  representative.]  Already  an  impression  of  discouragement 
and  despondence,  as  to  the  result  of  the  impending  conflict, 
began  to  affect  the  minds  of  many  adherents  of  the  Old  School 
body.  The  trustees  of  the  theological  seminary  were  engaged 
in  the  laudable  enterprise  of  collecting  funds  to  endow  and  es- 
tablish that  institution  at  Princeton.  Many  who  had  either 
subscribed  to  that  fund,  or  resolved  to  participate  in  its  accu- 
mulation, seeing  the  success  attending  New  School  movements, 
and  the  lukewarmness  prevalent  at  Princeton,  declined  con- 
tributing until  the  result  could  be  more  certainly  predicted. 
Even  the  trustees  of  the  seminary,  not  knowing  how  soon,  and 
how  totally,  the  whole  institution  with  its  professors,  edifices, 
libraries,  funds,  and  assets  en  masse,  might  pass  into  the  hands 
of  the  New  School,  gave  distinct  intimations  to  their  agents  and 
collectors  to  suspend  their  operations ;  considering  it  much  better 
that  the  funds  "^  *  in  prospect  should  remain  in  possession 
of  the  donors,  than  be  placed  within  reach  of  the  rapacious 
foe.  And  what  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  remarkable,  while  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  church  generally,  and  of  the 
seminary  in  particular,  were  hanging  in  this  state  of  torturing 
suspense,  the  opposers  of  the  Act  and  Testimony  some  time  con- 
tinued their  hostility  to  that  document,  and  the  general  relief 
measures  contemplated."^ 

In  May  1829,  the  Directors  of  the  Seminary  had  author- 
ized the  Professors  to  take  measures  for  the  erection  of  a 
chapel,  the  "Oratory"  having  been  found,  at  length,  too 
strait  for  the  full  assemblies  of  professors  and  students  ; 
and  Dr.  Miller  had  prepared  a  circular  and  subscription- 
paper,  issued  in  September  of  the  same  year,  appealing  to 
the  Church,  and  especially  to  former  students,  for  aid.  The 
idea  was  to  connect  with  the  chapel,  if  possible,  an  apart- 
ment suitable  for  the  library — an  idea  afterward  abandoned. 
In  fact,  the  collection  of  funds  for  any  Seminary  purpose 
was  so  difficult,  that  the  chapel  was  not  finished  sufficiently 
to  be  occupied  until  near  the  close  of  the  year  1834. 

1  A  Historical  Vindication  of  the  Abrogation  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  174. 


1884.]  PRESBYTERIANISM    AND    BAPTISM.  255 

6.       PRESBYTERIANISM   AND    BAPTISM. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  Tract  and  Sabbath  School 
Book  Society  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Alexander 
was  requested  to  prepare  their  first  volume,  and  Dr.  Miller 
their  first  Tract.  The  former  presented  the  Society  with 
the  little  work  entitled,  "  The  Way  of  Salvation,"  standing 
first  now  upon  the  catalogue  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Publication.  The  latter  presented  a  treatise  upon  Prcsby- 
terianism,  first,  upon  the  same  catalogue,  in  the  list  of  tracts.^ 
Perhaps  no  other  work  from  Dr.  Miller's  pen  has  been  so 
widely  circulated  as  this.  It  was  republished  in  Edinburg, 
in  1842,  as  part — about  one  half — of  a  volume  entitled 
"  Manual  of  Presbytery,"  under  the  editorial  care  of  the 
Rev.  John  G.  Lorimer,^  Minister  of  Free  St  David's  Church, 
Glasgow,  author  of  the  latter  half  of  the  volume. — "The 
Character  and  Advantages  of  Presbyterianism  ascertained 
by  Facts," — and  of  a  number  of  notes  appended  to  Dr. 
Miller's  work  ;  forming  together  a  very  valuable  addition 
to  the  original  treatise.  This  original  has  also  been  pub- 
lished in  an  Italian  translation. 

Dr.  Miller  delivered  two  sermons  on  Baptism — its  proper 
subjects  and  mode — in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Freehold, 
Monmouth  county,  New  Jersey,  on  the  29th  of  September, 
1834.  A  desire  that  they  should  be  published  having  been 
expressed,  they  were  committed,  after  revision  and  enlarge- 
ment, to  the  Society  just  mentioned,  and  issued  as  the 
eighth  tract  of  their  g-eneral  series.^  The  two  Works — 
Presbyterianism  and  Baptism — are  now  issued  by  the  Board 
of  Publication,  not  only  in  tract  form,  but  also  together  as 
the  seventeenth  bound  volume. 

Sending  to  Dr.  Engles  part  of  the  manuscript  of  the 
work,  on  Presbyterianism,  Dr.  Miller  wrote,  on  the  27th 
of  November, 

*I  will  thank  you,  my  dear  Sir,  to  look  over  the  manuscript 

^  "Presbyterianism  the  Truly  Primitive  and  Apostolical  Constitution  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History 
and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 
Philadelphia:  1835."— 12mo.  Pp.  98. 

'  Now  D.  D.  The  degree  was  conferred  by  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1849. 

5  "  Infant  Baptism  Scriptural  and  Reasonable;  and  Baptism  by  Sprinkling 
or  Affusion  the  most  Suitable  and  Edifying  Mode.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D., 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Philadelphia:  1835." — Acts  xvi.  15.  x. 
47.— 12mo.  Pp.  122. 


256  LABORS   FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.        [CH.  31.  6. 

with  freedom  and  candor ;  and  if  there  be  any  part  of  it  which 
shall  appear  to  you,  or  to  any  of  your  Executive  Committee, 
defective,  redundant,  or  erroneous,  I  hope  you  will  mention  it 
to  me  with  the  utmost  frankness ;  and  I  shall^  most  willingly 
alter  it  as  far  as  I  conscientiously  can.  I  write,  not  for  any 
private  purpose,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church,  and  never 
wish  to  write  or  print  any  thing  that  does  not  do  her  good.  *  * 

'The  more  I  reflect  on  the  subject,  the  more  decided  is  my 
opinion,  that,  instead  of  postponing  the  issue  of  manuals  of  one 
hundred,  or  even  a  hundred  and  fifty  pages,  until  some  of  much 
smaller  size  precede  them,  the  very  reverse  is  the  true  policy  of 
your  society.  Depend  upon  it,  such  manuals  will  be  more 
prized,  better  preserved,  more  read,  and  do  more~good,  than 
pamphlets  of  twelve  or  fifteen  pages,  which  must,  from  their 
nature,  be  perfectly  fugitive.  This  is  also  Dr.  Alexander's 
opinion — often  and  strongly  expressed,  entirely  irrespective  of 
any  manuals  of  mine.     *     * 

*P.  S.  I  very  much  regret  that  your  Synod  has  taken  the 
ground  that  it  has  against  the  admission  of  any  protests,  etc., 
excepting  in  cases  strictly  judicial.  Nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  the  doctrine  is  as  antipresbyterian  as  it  can  be — con- 
trary to  multiplied  and  long  established  precedents — contrary 
to  reason  and  to  every  principle  of  our  constitution.  It  is  just 
as  certain  that  every  enlightened  and  sober  General  Assembly 
will  condemn  it,  as  that  another  such  body  will  meet.  I  was 
never  more  amazed  than  to  find  such  a  doctrine  broached  by 
grave,  experienced  men.' 

Dr.  Lorimer.  in  his  preface,  says, 

"  I  have  long  wished  for  something  in  a  brief,  but  not  too 
brief  a  form,  which  should  comprehend  some  view  of  the  history 
and  doctrine  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  well  as  of  its  gov- 
ernment and  worship,  and  that  in  an  attractive  and  readable 
style.  In  the  little  work  of  the  able  and  accomplished  Pro- 
fessor of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  Presbyterian  College  ^  of 
Princeton,  New  Jersey,  I  think  I  have  met  with  the  desidera- 
tum. 8o  far  as  it  goes  it  is  admirable,  and  only  needs  to  be 
adapted,  by  means  of  additional  information,  to  the  state  and 
]»rospects  of  the  question  in  this  country,  to  prove  a  most  use- 
ful digest  for  every  Presbyterian  family.         "^         * 

1  The  means  of  correcting  these  trifling  errors  have  been  already  given.  The 
College  and  Theological  Seminary  of  Princeton  are  wholly  distinct  institu- 
tions,  although  often  supposed  to  have  some  connexion.  As  the  work  was 
puhlislicd,  at  the  time  Dr.  Lorimer  wrote,  by  the  Board  of  Publication,  estab- 
lished by  the  General  Assembly,  that  body  might,  with  an  approach  to  the 
truth,  be  said  to  have  given  it  "currency  by  the  sanction  of  its  ofl&cial  appro- 
bation." 


1834.]  PRESBYTERIANISM    AND    BAPTISM.  257 

"The  recomraendations  of  the  following  treatise  are  peculiar. 
Besides  its  own  merits,  its  accuracy,  simplicity,  comprehensive- 
ness— embracing  a  sketch  of  the  history,  doctrine,  government, 
and  worship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — and  freedom  from 
controversy,  it  is  the  work  of  one  who  occupies  a  leading  place 
in  one  of  the  most  important  Presbyterian  Churches  of  the 
world,  who  has  devoted  many  years  to  the  study  of  Church 
history,  and  who  has  written  largely  and  well  on  the  subject  of 
Church  government.  The  treatise,  too,  was  written  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
America,  and  has  for  years  been  adopted  as  one  of  the  many 
useful  little  w'orks  to  which  that  body  gives  currency  by  the 
sanction  of  its  official  approbation.  In  the  United  States  it  has 
had  a  circulation  of  many  thousands,  and  continues  in  high  es- 
timation. In  these  circumstances,  I  have  thought  that  a  re- 
publication, with  additional  original  matter,  suited  to  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  would  be  a  service  to  the  cause  of  Presbyteri- 
anism,  which  has  suffered  from  the  want  of  such  a  work — a 
cause  which  I  believe  to  be  the  cause  of  knowledge  and  truth, 
freedom,  order,  social  happiness,  virtue,  religion,  because  founded 
onthe  WordofGod."! 

This  little  work,  which  Dr.  Lorimer  commended  for  its 
"freedom  from  controversy,"  was  treated,  by  a  few  Epis- 
copalians, as  an  unpardonable  attack  upon  their  sect ;  and 
the  smothered  embers  of  their  polemical  wrath  were  raked 
over,  that  Dr.  Miller  might  roast,  afresh,  for  all  the 
imagined  sins  of  his  past  adventures  in  the  field  of  the  ])yq- 
latical  controversy.  The  essay  of  one  of  these  critics  was 
noticed  incidentally  by  Professor  J.  Addison  Alexander,  in 
the  Biblical  Repertory,  as  follows  : — 

"In  forming  this  favorable  judgment  [of  Bishop  H.  U.  On- 
derdonk]  we  have  had  no  reference  to  a  unique  production 
ascribed  by  fama  clamosa  to  the  Bishop ;  we  mean  the  review 
of  Dr.  Miller's  Tract  on  Presbyterianism,  originally  published 
in  the  Protestant  Episcojxdian,  and  reprinted  as  a.  pamphlet. 
As  Dr.  Miller,  we  are  sure,  will  never  think  it  w^orth  an  "  ans- 
wer," and  as  we  shall  most  assurredly  never  think  it  worthy  of 
a  re-reviewing,  we  subjoin  a  few  choice  samples  of  style  and 
spirit. 

"  "  These  ninety-six  tract  pages  are  stuffed  to  extreme  tension 
with  presbyterian  and  puritan  topics,  the  greater  portion  of 
them  being  such,  merely,  as  invectives  against  episcopacy  and 
the  episcopal  church." 

1  Pp.  xiii.  xiv. 


258     LABORS  FRUITLESS  AND  FRUITFUL.    [CH.  31.  7. 

"  "  They  are  so  charged  also  with  bitterness,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  with  sanctimony,  that  we  should  sicken  at  the  task  of 
draining  them  to  the  dregs." 

"  "  From  Dr.  Miller,  of  course,  nothing  better,  towards  epis- 
copalians, was  to  be  expected ;  he  has  shown  very  thoroughly 
what  he  is  both  in  the  green  tree  and  in  the  dry ;  he  has  fed  on 
his  prejudices  till  he  has  become  all  prejudice;  he  has  been  ex- 
posed for  quotations  till  almost  every  one  but  himself  has  stood 
aghast  at  the  developments ;  of  course  he  is  Dr.  Miller  still.  For 
this  we  were  prepared.  But  we  were  7iot  prepared  for  such 
a  farrago  issued  under  the  authority  of  the  tract  Society  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia." 

"  "Such,  reader,  is  the  tone  of  this  tract — it  is  one  of  the  most 
supercilious  and  pharisaical  productions  we  have  ever  seen." 
"Were  there  a  possibility  of  supposing  it  to  have  an  obscure 
origin,  it  would  be  laughed  at,  as  the  mere  spleen  of  imbecility." 

"If  Dr.  Miller's  tract  is  the  "spleen  of  imbecility,"  what  sort 
of  spleen  is  this  ?  We  have  not  held  Bp.  O.  responsible  for 
this  efiusion,  first,  because  it  is  anonymous,  and  next,  because, 
whether  penned  by  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon,  it  is  a  thing  of 
which  the  most  effeminate  "  candidate  for  orders  "  might  blush 
to  be  the  author."^ 

7.    Miscellaneous  Topics. 

In  a  letter  of  the  31st  of  March,  1835,  Dr.  Miller  wrote 
to  a  minister  and  former  pupil, 

i  *  ;ic  2,  You  seem  to  have  considered  the  fama  damosa  as  the 
testimony  on  which  a  person  may  be  convicted.  But  this  is  by 
no  means  the  case.  Fama  damosa  only  warrants  the  judicatory 
in  taking  up  and  investigating  a  subject,  where  there  is  no  in- 
dividual who  comes  forward  as  an  accuser.  When  a  matter  is 
taken  up  on  the  ground  of  fama  damosa,  witnesses  are  to  be 
cited  and  regularly  qualified,  before  they  give  their  testimony, 
just  as  in  the  case  of  an  individual  accuser. 

'3.  It  was  irregular  to  allow  the  members  of  the  session  to 
give  testimony  without  being  regularly  sworn  or  aflfirmed.  "^  * 

'4.  You  were  wrong  in  convicting  and  censuring  for  the 
original  offence  and  for  contumacy,  at  the  same  time.  No  man 
can  be,  strictly  speaking,  tried  in  his  absence.  When  he  refuses 
to  attend,  after  being  properly  cited  twice,  some  person  is  to  be 
appointed  his  counsel,  and  the  testimony  is  to  be  taken  and  put 
on  record,  to  prevent  its  being  lost.  But  in  this  case  the  cul- 
prit is  to  be  suspended  for  contumacy  only.     There  may  be  use 

1  For  1835  :  note  to  pp.  595,  6. 


1835.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  259 

for  the  testimony  afterwards,  if  he  should  be  willing  to  be 
tried. 

*  I  would  therefore  advise —  *  * 

*  3.  All  the  witnesses  examined,  whether  members  of  the  ses- 
sion or  not,  are  to  be  sworn  or  affirmed,  according  to  the  direc- 
tion given  in  our  book.  The  moderator  is  to  do  this.  Let 
their  testimony  be  carefully  recorded. 

'4.  If  there  are  witnesses  enough,  who  do  not  belong  to  the 
session,  it  is  better  to  cite  them.  It  is  not  desirable,  if  it  can 
be  helped,  that  the  members  of  the  session,  who  are  to  be  judges, 
should  also  be  the  witnesses.  Sometimes  this  cannot  be  helped, 
and,  of  course,  ought  to  be  submitted  to. 

'  5.  I  would  advise  that  all  your  proceedings  in  the  case  pass 

in  the  session  only.     If  you  publish  them  from  the  pulpit, 

may  possibly  carry  the  matter  into  a  civil  court,  and  sue  you 
for  slander.  I  never  knew  a  case  of  that  kind  to  occur;,  but 
where  you  have  to  do  with  a  troublesome  man,  it  is  well  to  be 
on  your  guard  and  give  him  no  advantage.  "^  "^ 

'P.  S.  If attends  and  submits  to  a  trial,  then,  after  all 

the  testimony  is  taken  on  oath  and  recorded,  and  he  has  said 
what  he  pleases,  and  has  withdrawn,  the  session  will,  of  course, 
sit  in  private  and  form  their  judgment.  There  is  no  necessity 
for  publishing  this  judgment  from  the  pulpit.^  It  may  pass  in 
the  judicatory,  and  he  be  notified  of  the  result  by  a  private 
note.  And  the  elders  can  cause  the  fact  of  his  suspension  (if 
that  should  be  the  judgment)  to  be  understood,  by  speaking  of 
it  in  the  course  of  private  conversation  with  the  members  of  the 
church.' 

The  Rev.  George  S.  AYoodhull,  who  had  been  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Princeton  from  1820  to  1832, 
was  brought  thither  for  burial,  and  Dr.  Miller  preached 
the  funeral  sermon,  which  by  request  was  published.-  Ilis 
diary,  under  a  little  later  date,  presents  the  following : — 

'  March  1st,  1835.  This  day  the  Lord's  Supper  was  dispensed 
in  the  church  in  Princeton,  and  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  an 
attendant  on  that  solemn  and  precious  ordinance.  It  is  so  sel- 
dom that  I  have  an  opportunity  of  enjoying,  as  now,  this 
privilege,  without  being  called  upon  to  take  any  public  part  in 

'  Book  of  Discipline,  Ch.  iv.  19.  But  see  Directory  for  Worship,  etc.,  Ch. 
X.  3.  7.  8. 

2  "  The  Good  Man :  a  Sermon  in  Memory  of  the  Rev.  George  S.  Woodhull  ; 
delivered  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Princeton,  January  18,  183o.  By 
Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Govern- 
ment in  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Princeton.  Princeton,  N.  J.  1835." — 
Acts  xi.  24.— 8vo.     Pp.  28. 


260  LABORS    FRUITLESS   AND    FRUITFUL.         [CH.  31.  7. 

the  service,  that  I  cannot  help  regarding  it  as  a  favor  to  be 
left,  in  a  state  of  entire  mental  tranquillity,  to  ponder  on  the 
great  and  blessed  objects  which  are  held  forth  in  this  sacra- 
mental supper.  Alas!  for  our  infirmity,  that  being  called 
upon  to  speak  in  public,  on  such  occasions,  so  frequently 
creates  a  degree  of  solicitude,  which,  in  a  measure,  interferes 
with  that  calm  repose  of  spirit,  that  sweet  peace  in  contem- 
plating "  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,"  set  forth  in  this 
feast  of  love,  as  to  make  abstraction  from  official  labor  on  such 
an  occasion  sometimes  desirable  and  delightful.  I  owe  it,  in- 
deed, to  my  Master's  grace,  to  say,  that  I  often  enjoy  precious 
comfort  in  publicly  officiating  at  such  seasons ;  but  I  too  often 
feel  a  degree  of  solicitude,  that  I  may  not  mar  the  edifying 
character  of  the  ordinance,  by  unskilful  remarks,  or  by  an  un- 
happy manner,  which,  in  a  degree,  interferes  with  that  entire 
forgetfulness  of  everything  but  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  the 
humbling  influence  of  his  adorable  and  wonderful  love,  which 
is  so  desirable.  Nor  is  this  a  drawback  connected  only  w^ith 
extemporaneous  ministrations.  On  the  contrary,  in  those  parts 
of  the  service,  in  which  my  preparation  has  been  most  perfect, 
if  my  observation  has  not  deceived  me,  the  state  of  my  mind 
has  been  most  unfavorable  to  simple,  humble  devotion  of  spirit. 
In  prayer,  on  such  occasions,  I  have  found,  if  I  am  not  de- 
ceived, less  reason  to  mourn  over  my  infirmities  of  mind,  than 
in  other  exercises. 

*  Thank  God,  I  have  been  free  *  *  from  such  solicitude 
to-day !  My  mind,  through  the  sacramental  service,  was  calm, 
serene,  and  I  hope  employed  in  a  manner  not  altogether  inap- 
propriate. Oh,  how  wonderful  that  any  should  ever  be  dull  or 
uninterested  in  meditating  on  the  amazing  love  of  Him,  who, 
"  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we, 
through  his  poverty,  might  be  rich  !" 

*  O  Lord,  enable  me  henceforth  to  be  more  cordially  and  en- 
tirely than  ever  devoted  to  thy  service !  Increase  my  faith  ! 
Lift  me  up  above  the  grovelling  pursuits  of  time  and  sense ! 
Make  it,  more  than  it  has  ever  yet  been,  my  meat  and 
drink  to  glorify  thee  in  body  and  spirit  which  are  thine! 
Amen !     Amen !' 


CHAPTER     THIRTY- SECOND 

TRIUMPH    AND    DEFEAT. 

1835,  1836. 


1.     General  Assembly  of  1835. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1835  met  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian  Churcli  of  Pittsburgh,  on  the  21st  of  May.  For 
thirty-six  years,  before,  it  had  not  met  out  of  Phil- 
adelphia.^ Dr.  Miller  was  a  commissioner,  and,  in  the 
absence  of  the  Moderator,  and  by  request  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
William  A.  McDowell,  the  last  Moderator  present,  opened 
the  sessions  with  a  sermon.  A  large  Old  School  majority 
wielded  the  power  of  this  Assembly:  the  efforts  which  had 
been  made  to  arouse  the  Church  to  a  sense  of  its  danger 
had  proved  not  unavailing.  A  week  earlier,  the  Conven- 
tion called  by  the  Act  and  Testimony  had  assembled  in  the 
Second  Church.  That  body  had  framed  a  Memorial,  which 
was  presented  to  the  Assembly,  and  occupied  its  attention 
during  a  large  part  of  its  sessions  of  eighteen  days.  The 
very  intent  of  this  paper,  and  the  criticisms  which  the  Act 
and  Testimony  had  provoked,  had  concurred  to  give  it,  in 
itself,  an  unobjectionable  shape.  Going  first  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Bills  and  Overtures,  it  was,  by  their  recommen- 
dation, referred  to  a  special  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Miller 
was  chairman,  and  the  report  of  which,  including  all  the 
important  points  of  the  Memorial,  after  long  discussion 
and  some  amendments,  was  adopted. 

1  Until  the  j'ear  1844,  beginning  with  which  this  judicatory  has  met,  at  the 
most,  but  three  times  in  the  same  place,  it  had  convened  always  in  Philadel- 
phia, except  its  meeting  at  Carlisle  in  1792  and  1795,  at  Winchester,  Virginia, 
in  1799,  and  at  Pittsburgh  in  1835  and  iSoG. 

261 


262  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  1. 

The  decisions  thus  reached  embraced  nearly  every  great 
question  which  had  of  late  agitated  the  Church.  The  pre- 
amble of  the  report  said, 

"In  approaching  these  weighty  subjects,  the  committee 
deemed  it  to  be  an  obvious  duty  to  exclude  from  their  view  all 
those  principles  which  result  from  the  wishes  or  plans  of  differ- 
ent parties  in  the  Church,  and  to  take  for  their  guide  simply 
the  word  of  God,  which  we  consider  the  only  infallible  rule  of 
faith  and  practice;  and  those  public  formularies,  by  which  we 
have  solemnly  agreed  and  stipulated  with  each  other  to  be 
governed  in  all  our  proceedings.  "^  *  The  committee,  indeed, 
by  no  means  expect,  and  do  not  suppose  the  Assembly  would 
think  of  enforcing,  that  perfect  agreement  of  views  in  every  mi- 
nute particular,  which,  in  a  body  so  extended  as  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  has  perhaps  never  been  realized.  But  that  an 
entire  and  cordial  agreement  in  all  the  radical  principles  of 
that  system  of  truth  and  order  which  is  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  which  is  embodied  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Form  of  Government,  and  which  every  Minister  and  Elder  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  has  solemnly  subscribed  and  promised 
to  maintain,  may  not  only  be  reasonably  expected,  but  must  be 
as  far  as  possible  secured,  if  we  would  maintain  '  the  unity  of 
the  Spirit,  in  the  bonds  of  peace '  and  love — it  is  presumed  this 
General  Assembly  will  be  unanimous  in  pronouncing.  If  this 
be  not  so,  it  is  in  vain  that  we  assemble  from  year  to  year ;  in 
vain  that  we  hope  for  intercourse  either  pleasant  or  edifying. 
Our  judicatories  must  be  scenes  of  discord  and  conflict,  and 
the  ties  which  bind  the  several  parts  of  our  extended  body  to 
each  other,  can  scarcely  fail  of  being  ties  of  strife  and  con- 
tention." 

It  was  declared  to  be  the  right  and  duty  of  presbyteries, 
though  not  without  responsibility  to  the  higher  judicatories, 
to  satisfy  themselves,  by  examination  or  otherwise,  of  the 
orthodoxy  and  good  character  in  every  respect,  of  ministers 
applying  for  admission,  even  when  they  came  with  regular 
testimonials. 

The  right,  and  possible  duty,  of  church  judicatories  to 
condemn  printed  publications,  without  arraigning  their 
authors,  was  asserted.  The  principle  of  elective  affinity, 
in  the  formation  of  presbyteries  and  synods,  was  wholly  con- 
demned, as  contrary  to  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution,  and  as  opening  a  wide  door  for  mischiefs  and 
abuses  of  the  most  serious  kind.     The  Synod  of  Delaware, 


1835.]  GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  263 

with  the  concurrence  of  the  New  School  party,  and  by  a 
unanimous  vote,  was  dissolved,  and  its  presbyteries  restored 
to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which  was  to  take  such  con- 
stitutional order  respecting  their  organization  as  it  might 
deem  expedient.  The  Assembly  would  not  prohibit  the 
efforts  of  voluntary  associations  within  its  bounds ;  but  ex- 
pressed its  persuasion  that  it  was  the  first  and  binding  duty 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  sustain  its  own  boards;  and 
condemn  the  introduction  into  the  Church,  by  voluntary 
associations,  of  ministers  holding  sentiments  contrary  to  her 
standards.  It  was  declared  no  longer  desirable  that 
churches  should  be  formed  upon  the  Plan  of  Union  with 
Cono-reorationalists :  the  General  Association  of  Connecti- 
cut  w^as  requested  to  consent  that  that  plan  should  be  an- 
nulled; but  this  was  not  to  invalidate  the  position  of  any 
churches  already  organized.  In  conclusion,  the  Assembly 
condemned  the  doctrinal  errors  specified  in  the  memorial, 
as  wholly  incompatible  with  an  honest  adoption  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  warning  the  Church  against  them,  and 
enjoining  upon  presbyteries  and  synods  to  exercise  the  ut- 
most vigilance  in  guarding  against  their  introduction  and 
dissemination;  recognizing  the  fact  that  these  errors  did 
prevail,  although  to  what  extent  they  could  not  determine. 

The  Stated  Clerk  failed  to  communicate  the  proposition 
as  to  the  Plan  of  Union  to  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
necticut, which  therefore  took  no  action  upon  it ;  and  the 
whole  matter  was  left,  without  complication  or  change,  to 
be  freely  disposed  of  by  the  Assembly  of  1837.^ 

A  committee  was  also  appointed,  not  only  to  negotiate, 
but  to  conclude,  finally,  an  agreement  with  The  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  for  the  transfer  of  its  missions 
to  the  Assembly,  and  also  to  digest  a  plan  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary operation.  It  was  fully  intended  to  consummate  the 
transfer  without  any  further  action  of  the  Assembly,  except 
to  organize  its  own  agency  for  carrying  on  the  work.  A 
definite  agreement  was  afterwards,  accordingly,  made  with 
the  Society,  and  the  actual  transfer  only  awaited  the  crea- 
tion of  a  Board,  or  some  other  agency  capable  of  receiving 
it. 

These  acts  of  the  Assembly  were  not  all  passed  by  a 

1  Baird's  Hist,  of  New  School,  445. 


264  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CII.  32.  1. 

mere  party  majority.  The  right  of  presbyteries  to  satisfy 
themselves  of  the  orthodoxy  and  good  character  of  appli- 
cants, by  examination  or  otherwise,  was  sustained  by  a  vote 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  to  seventy-nine,  though 
only  one  hundred  and  seventeen  had  voted  for  the  Old 
School  moderator;  and  some  of  the  New  School  leaders, 
like  Dr.  Hillyer  and  Dr.  Fisher,  upon  the  vote  first  men- 
tioned, were  with  the  majority.  The  dissolution  of  the 
Synod  of  Delaware,  and  the  disposition  made  of  its  presby- 
teries, were  put  in  a  shape  substantially  suggested  by  Dr, 
Ely,  only  a  little  modified  by  an  amendment  of  Dr.  Miller's 
and  were  unanimously  agreed  to.  Yet,  upon  the  whole, 
party  lines  were  as  strongly  marked  in  this  Assembly,  as 
the  overwhelming  preponderance  of  the  Old  School,  and 
the  discouragement  of  the  New,  permitted. 

The  leaven  at  work  in  some  parts  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  at  this  time,  may  be  exhibited  by  giving  in  full, 
as  reported  in  the  Netv  York  Evangelist,  the  speech  of  Mr. 
Stewart,  a  ruling  elder  from  Illinois,  on  the  first  resolution 
providing  for  the  examination  of  applicants.  We  may  take 
for  granted  that  it  revealed  the  ministerial  influences  under 
which  the  speaker  had  been  living. 

"Mr.  Stewart  said  he  intended  to  vote  for  the  resolution.  He 
liked  it,  not  because  it  is  constitutional,  for  it  is  not ;  but  be- 
cause it  is  common  sense,  and  it  is  Bible  too.  And  it  will  an- 
swer a  valuable  purpose  where  I  live;  it  will  enable  us  to  keep 
out  the  Old  School,  and  that  is  a  prime  object  for  us.  If  the 
motion  should  carry,  presbyteries  can  act  just  as  they  please, 
and  that  will  suit  us  right  well  in  Illinois.  Heretofore,  we 
could  not  move  to  the  right  or  left,  because  we  supposed  the 
General  Assembly  would  restrain  us.  But  pass  this  resolution 
and  we  are  free,  and  Ave  will  take  care  that  they  have  no  Old 
School  in  Illinois.  We  have  one  Old  School  church  that  has 
made  us  trouble,  but  pass  this  resolution,  and  we  never  will 
have  any  more.  We  think  Old  Schools  are  heretical,  and  they 
think  we  are  heretical;  and  where  there  is  a  majority  of  the 
Old  School  they  will  purge  out  the  New  School,  and  then  they 
will  have  a  heap  of  peace.  And  if  there  is  a  majority  of  the 
New  School,  they  will  clear  out  the  Old  School,  and  then  they 
will  have  good  times,  and  have  revivals,  and  not  be  disturbed 
with  their  opposition  and  noise.  For  my  part,  I  like  Old 
School  men ;  good,  honest,  thorough  going  Old  School  men !  I 
like  them  very  well,  only  we  don't  want  them  in  Illinois!  they 
don't  suit  there,  and  if  you  pass  this  resolution,  we  shan't  have 


1835.]  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  265 

them  there.  If  yovi  pass  this  resolution,  you  will  divide  the 
church  according  to  elective  affinity,  and  I  hope  it  will  pass: 
I  came  here  with  a  strong  desire  to  have  the  church  stay  together, 
but  I  have  altered  my  mind.  I  hope  the  General  Assembly  will 
never  come  to  Illinois.  I  don't  wish  to  cast  reflections,  but  I 
think  the  devil  must  have  been  highly  pleased  with  what  is 
going  on."^ 

This  speech,  just  then  "  going  on,"  was  perhaps  too  can- 
did to  command  Satan's  admiration. 

By  this  Assembl}^  Dr.  John  Breckinridge  was  chosen 
Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology,  in  the  Seminary  at  Prince- 
ton, and  he  was  inaugurated  on  the  26th  of  September 
following ;  but  his  connexion  with  the  Board  of  Education 
was  not  immediately  dissolved,  and  he  did  not  remove  to 
Princeton  until  the  1st  of  May,  1836.  Mr.  Joseph  Addi- 
son Alexander  also,  who,  in  1833,  had  been  appointed, 
Assistant  Instructor  in  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature, 
was  now  elected  Associate  Professor  in  the  same  depart- 
ment;  but,  for  a  time,  he  declined  accepting  the  new  title. 

During  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  Dr.  Miller  preached 
a  sermon  before  the  Alumni  of  Princeton  Seminary,  which 
was  requested  and  given  for  publication.  It  was  issued 
from  the  press  in  the  ordinary  form  of  a  single  sermon,^ 
and  also  in  The  Presbyterian  Preacher  published  at  Pitts- 
burgh.^    In  this  sermon  he  said, 

"  We,  perhaps,  all  need  an  improvement  in  our  method  of 
preaching,  making  it  less  dogmatical ;  less  philosophical ;  more 
simple  ;  more  biblical,  that  is,  consisting  more  in  the  illustration 
of  scripture  by  scripture  ;  more  direct ;  more  pointed  ;  more  af- 
fectionate ;  more  full  of  heavenly  unction ;  more,  in  short,  like  a 
message  from  God,  than  a  human  oration.  The  late  excellent  and 
lamented  Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  in  the  last  letter  that  I  ever  received 
from  him,  made  the  following  remark:  "I  am  convinced  that,  in 
the  present  state  of  this  country,  there  is  nothing  which  can  con- 
trol the  religious  principle,  and  give  it  a  salutary  direction, 
but    Bible    truth,   plainly    exhibited,   and   honestly 

URGED  ON  the  UNDERSTANDING  AND  CONSCIENCE.      And  I  am 

persuaded  that  all  settled  pastors,  and  all  missionaries   too, 

^  7  Biblical  Repertory  and  Thcol.  Rev.,  (lS:i5,)  404. 

2  "  Christ  the  Model  of  Gospel  Ministers.  A  Sermon,  delivered  Juno  1,  1S35, 
in  the  City  of  Pittsburgh,  before  the  Association  of  the  Alumni  of  the  Theo- 
logicnl  Seminary  at  Princeton.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesi- 
astical History  and  Church  Government  in  the  said  Seminary.  Published  by 
request  of  the  Association.    Princeton  :  1835." — Matthew  iv.  19. — 8vo.  Pp.  32. 

3  IV.  Vol.  No.  4.     September,  1835. 

Vol.  II.— 23 


266  TRIUMPH    AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  2. 

ought  to  do  a  great  deal  more  than  they  now  do  in  lecturing; 
or^as  some  express  it,  expounding.  There  is  too  much  reason- 
ing, and  too  much  dogmatizing^  in  the  pulpit.  I  throw  out  this 
hint,  that,  if  it  is  worth  anything,  you  may  drop  it  before  the 
students  of  your  Seminary."  The  sentiment  is  worth  much, 
and  I  repeat  and  record  it  for  your  benefit.  "  The  word,"  as 
the  pious  and  venerable  Mr.  Baxter  somewhere  observes — "the 
word  is  divine;  but  our  preaching  is  human;  and  there  is 
scarcely  anything  we  have  the  handling  of,  but  w^e  leave  on  it 
the  prints  of  our  fingers."  "^ 

The  subject  of  slavery  came  by  overture,  and  in  other 
forms,  before  the  Assembly ;  and  the  report  of  a  commit- 
tee appointed  to  consider  it,  with  all  the  papers  in  their 
hands,  was,  after  some  discussion,  referred  to  another  com- 
mittee, of  which  Dr.  Miller  was  chairman,  to  be  considered, 
and  reported  upon  to  the  Assembly  of  1836. 

2.     Correspondence  and  Sermons. 

The  following  letter,  from  the  Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith, 
who  had  been  a  Representative  in  the  first  Congress  assem- 
bled at  Washington,  Governor  of  Connecticut,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Bible  Society,  was  written  in  reply 
to  one  from  Dr.  Miller,  accompanying  a  copy  of  his  work 
on  the  Ruling  Elder. 

"Reverend  and  dear  Sir,  Sharon,  June  3,  1835. 

"  You  have  been  informed  by  mv  grandson,  that  your 
most  acceptable  letter,  and  accompanying  volume  did  not 
arrive  in  due  course,  >!«  *  j  shall  make  no  further  delay  in 
expressing  my  hearty  thanks  for  a  favor,  which  I  esteem  as 
well  for  its  intrinsic  value,  as  for  the  courteous  manner  in 
which  it  is  conferred. 

"  I  am  so  much  in  the  habit  of  admiring  your  waitings,  and  of 
confiding  in  the  correctness  of  your  theological  views,  that  when 
these  come  into  conflict  with  my  own  preconceived  opinions, 
the  latter  are  necessarily  put  in  great  jeopardy.  My  early  im- 
pressions were  in  favor  of  the  Presbyterian  organization ;  but 
were  removed  by  a  series  of  essays  against  the  institution  of 
"lay  elders,"  ascribed  to  the  late  Dr.  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  published  several  years  ago  in  a  monthly  periodical  in  this 
state.'    The  essays  evinced  considerable  research,  and  an  ex- 

1  Pp.  25,  26. 

2  The  Primitive  Government  of  Christian  Churches,  which  first  appeared  in 
The  Christian  Spectator,  and  was  republished  in  a  volume,  with  "Liturgical 
Considerations,"  in  1833. 


1835.]      CORRESPONDEXCE  AND  SERMONS.         267 

tensive  acquaintance  with  the  Fathers  ;  and,  although  I  do  not 
now  recollect  the  exact  proofs  by  which  the  effect  was  pro- 
duced, I  settled  down  in  the  conviction,  that  the  Congrega- 
tional was,  in  truth,  the  primitive  order  of  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment. Nor  have  I  met  with  anything  to  disturb  that  con- 
viction, until  I  took  up  the  volume  you  had  the  goodness  to 
send  me.  I  freely  confess,  you  have  presented  an  array  of 
proofs  and  authorities  too  powerful  to  be  easily  overcome ;  so 
that  I  am  almost  disposed  to  sympathize  with  the  Dutch  mag- 
istrate, in  a  neighboring  state,  w^ho  felt  no  difficulty  in  entering 
up  judgment  on  hearing  one  side  only,  but  pronounced  it 
"  utterly  impossible  for  any  man  to  decide  a  cause  after  hearing 
advocates  on  both  sides."  But  on  whichsoever  side  of  this  ques- 
tion the  weight  of  evidence  and  argument  may  lie,  there  is  con- 
solation in  believing,  as  you  charitably  suggest,  that  on  neither 
side  can  the  error  be  deemed  fundamental.  The  representative 
system  is  certainly  the  most  beautiful  in  theory,  most  efficient, 
most  in  analogy  with  our  civil  institutions;  and  even  the 
venerable  Hooker  would  have  thought  it  better  adapted  to  our 
republican  forms,  than  his  own  hierarchy.  And  yet  the  Con- 
gregational plan,  although  too  democratic  and  anarchical  in 
form,  is  nevertheless  in  practice  scarcely  less  energetic  than  the 
other.  By  a  standing  committee  of  the  church,  of  which  the 
deacons,  who  are  permanent  officers,  are  ex  officio  members, 
and  in  which  the  pastor  presides,  we  secure  nearly  all  the  bene- 
fits of  your  church  judicatory ;  for,  although  their  acts  and 
decisions  may  require  the  sanction  of  the  church,  it  is  rarely,  if 
ever,  withheld ;  and  our  deacons,  besides  their  aj^propriate 
duty,  are  expected  to  perform  all  the  ministerial  functions 
allotted  to  your  ruling  elders.  Thus  the  difference  between  the 
two  systems  is,  perhaps,  more  in  name,  than  in  substance.  At 
any  rate,  I  ardently  hope  it  will  never  be  thought  of  sufficient 
magnitude  to  interrupt  our  union  in  the  church  militant ;  nor, 
as  I  humbly  trust,  in  the  church  triumphant. 

"  I  lament  with  you,  my  dear  Sir,  that  the  ground  of  com- 
plaint against  the  theological  department  of  Yale  College  is 
not  removed.  Strong  hopes  are,  however,  entertained,  that  the 
legal  remedy  will  yet  be  applied,  unless  a  reform  is  otherwise 
effected.  It  is  believed,  that  the  apprehension  of  some  such 
measure  has  induced  greater  caution  latterly  on  the  part  of  the 
Professors,  and,  with  the  additional  circumstance  of  a  vigorous 
opposition  to  their  doctrines  from  several  of  their  own  pupils, 
may,  ere  long,  produce  an  entire  change  in  their  views.  At 
all  events,  I  feel  little  confidence  in  the  attempt  to  correct  the 
evil  by  setting  up  a  rival  institution,  belligerent  in  its  design, 
and  obviously  calculated  to  produce,  as  it  has  in  fact  produced. 


268  TRIUMPn    AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  2. 

irritation  and  unkind  feeling  among  brethren  of  the  same  com- 
munion. Total  alienation,  it  is  justly  feared,  must  be  the 
result  of  this  state  of  things ;  a  result  not  less  fatal  to  the  peace 
and  unity  of  the  church  than  to  the  vital  interests  of  the  col- 
lege. Moreover,  what  pledge  can  be  given,  that  the  new  insti- 
tute itself  may  not,  as  has  happened  in  another  case,  become 
the  nursery  of  error?  In  short,  what  indemnity  can  we  have 
but  the  divine  promise,  that  "  when  the  enemy  shall  come  in 
like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  set  up  a  standard 
against  him  ?"  A  spirit  of  discord  seems  to  prevail,  to  an 
alarming  degree,  in  many  sections  of  the  American  Church. 
God  grant  that  these  unhappy  divisions  may  be  speedily  ab- 
sorbed in  one  united  and  mighty  effort  to  evangelize  the  ^vorld. 
"  \yith  very  great  respect  and  Christian  affection, 

"  I  am,  Reverend  and  dear  Sir,  your 
"  Obliged  friend, 
"  Rev'd  Dr.  Miller.  John  Cotton  Smith.''^ 

The  following  passages  occur  in  a  letter  from  Dr.  Miller 
to  Mr.  Nettleton,  dated  the  18th  of  August : — 

*  I  am  glad  that  our  general  proceedings  in  Pittsburgh  met 
your  approbation.  I  do  think  that  the  first  resolution  in  the 
report  on  the  Memorial,  of  which  you  speak  particularly,  is 
both  reasonable  and  important  in  the  present  state  of  the 
Church.  While  I  am  satisfied  that  the  right  of  examining, 
and  judging  of  the  sentiments  and  character  of  those  who 
apply  to  be  received,  is  inherent  in  all  religious  bodies,  and 
cannot  be  abandoned ;  yet  I  think  it  a  right  which  ought  to  be 
exercised  with  great  prudence,  and  with  all  possible  delicacy. 
Twenty  years  ago,  I  should  have  thought  bringing  it  forward 
in  this  prominent  manner  indelicate  and  unreasonable.  But, 
if  the  Christian  Church,  as  such,  is  bound  to  be  a  witness  for 
God,  I  am  unable  to  conceive  of  a  clearer  duty  than  that  which 
at  present  devolves  upon  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
Churches  to  take  this  stand  openly  and  decidedly.  None,  I 
believe,  will  oppose  it,  but  unsound  and  dangerous  men,  who 
are  opposed  only  because  the  operation  of  the  rule  will  bear 
hard  upon  the  unsound  and  erroneous. 

'  Of  one   thing,  my  dear  Brother,  you  may  rest  assured — 

that,  however  a  few  such  men  as  Dr. and  Mr. may 

feel,  and  be  disposed  to  act,  concerning  our  Congregational 
brethren  and  their  churches,  there  is  no  such  feeling  among 
the  mass  of  our  Old  School  men.     "^     *     The  Evangelist  man, 

1  Sco  The  Corre.'pondencc  and  Miscellanies  of  the  Hon,  John  Cotton  Smith, 
LL.D.     By  Kev.  Wm.  M.  Andrews.     1847. 


1835.]  CORRESPONDXCE   AND    SERMONS.  269 

and  all  like  him  are  laboring  to  create  feelings  of  jealousy  and 
alienation  between  our  New  England  brethren  and  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  '''  *  There  is  no  foundation  for  it.  No 
one  laments  more  than  we  do  some  parts  of  the  course  of  Dr. 

,  and  some  paragraphs  which  now  and  then  occur  in  The 

Presbyterian.  But  we  cannot  help  it,  and  we  hope  it  will  not 
be  misconstrued.' 

The  American  National  Preacher,  for  September,  1835, 
contained  two  sermons,  from  Dr.  Miller,  on  Domestic  Hap- 
piness.^ On  the  9th  of  September  he  preached  before  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners,  meeting  in  Baltimore, 
a  missionary  discourse,  Avhich  also  was  published,  both  in 
the  usual  form,^  and  in  the  National  Preacher. 

In  November,  1834,  Dr.  J.  L.  Wilson,  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Cincinnati,  had  arraigned  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  Presi- 
dent of  Lane  Seminary,  before  that  Presbytery,  upon 
charges,  chiefly,  of  error  in  doctrine.  The  New  School 
character  of  the  body  secured,  of  course,  his  acquittal ; 
but  Dr.  Wilson  appealed  to  Synod.  Upon  his  trial  before 
presbytery,  in  June,  1835,  Dr.  Beecher  read,  in  self-de- 
fence, and  afterward  published,  or  permitted  to  be  pub- 
lished, the  letter  written  to  him,  when  he  was  called  to 
Philadelphia,  by  Dr.  Miller,  which  has  been  already  given.^ 
After  the  date  of  that  letter.  Dr.  Miller's  opinion  of  his 
orthodoxy  had  undergone  a  material  change,  and  some 
persons — among  others,  Mr.  Nettleton — urged  him  to  con- 
demn, publicly,  the  use  of  a  letter  of  so  old  a  date,  for  such 
a  purpose,  without  permission  ;  and  publicly  to  retract  the 
good  opinion  which  it  expressed — in  short,  to  come  out  in 
the  newspapers  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  opponents  of 
Dr.  Beecher.  To  Mr.  Nettleton  -Dr.  Miller  replied,  on  the 
23d  of  September, 

'I  feel  the  weight  and  importance  of  what  you  say  concern- 
ing the  publication  of  my  letter  by  Dr.  Beecher.     I,  at  first 

1'' Sermon  CXCVIII.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  The  Importance  of  Domestic  Happi- 
ness. Sermon  CXCIX.  The  Means  of  Domestic  Happiness." — Job  v.  24 — 
8vo.     Pp   16. 

2  "  The  Earth  filled  with  the  Glory  of  the  Lord.  A  Sermon  preached  at  Bal- 
timore, September  9,  1835,  before  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Mif^sions,  at  their  twenty-sixth  Annual  Meeting.  By  Samuel  Miller, 
D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Princeton,  N.  J.  Boston : 
1835."— Numbers  xiv.  20,  21.— 8vo.     Pp.  34. 

»  See  pp.  140,  141. 


270  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  2. 

resolved,  that  I  would  prepare  and  publish  something  adapted 
to  explain  the  transaction,  and  set  it  in  its  true  light ;  and  even 
went  so  far  a^  actually  to  write  "  a  Letter  to  a  Friend  in  New 
England,"  making  such  statements  as  I  thought  fitted  to  rectify 
all  mistakes  in  reference  to  my  unfortunate  communication  of 
1827 — with  a  view  to  its  being  published  in  the  New  York 
Observer,  etc.  But,  on  mature  deliberation,  and  consulting 
confidentially  with  two  or  three  wise  friends,  I  have  concluded 
not  to  publish  any  thing  directly  on  the  subject — at  least,  for 
the  present.     My  reasons  are  the  following : — 

'1.  The  letter  which  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Beecher,  in  1827,  was 
not  considered  by  me  as  confidential  when  I  wrote  it.  The 
views  and  wishes  it  contains,  were  frequently  and  freely  ex- 
pressed to  a  number  of  persons,  especially  to  the  gentlemen  ap- 
pointed to  go  to  Boston  to  prosecute  the  call. 

*2.  It  was  produced  by  Dr.  Beecher,  on  his  trial,  7iot  to  shew 
that  7101V ;  but  simply  to  show  that,  in  1827,  when  I  had  seen 
and  read  a  particular  publication,  which  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal grounds  of  process  against  him,  I  had  not  withdrawn  from 
him  my  confidence,  but  wished  him  to  occupy  a  conspicuous 
station  in  our  Church.  This  appears  to  me  to  have  been  a  fair 
and  legitimate  purpose ;  and  my  letter  is,  surely,  an  unexcep- 
tionable testimony  to  that  amount.  And,  although  I  think 
that  equity  and  delicacy  demanded  that  he  should  consult  me 
before  publishing  it ;  yet  I  do  not  feel  as  if  I  ought,  at  present, 
to  beat  him  with  many  stripes ;  especially  as 

*  3.  The  case,  for  which  he  produced  my  letter  is  still  pending j 
an  appeal  having  been  taken ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee 
before  whom  it  may  come  as  judges.  In  this  situation  of  things, 
for  me  to  interpose,  and  endeavor  to  vary  the  position  of  the 
case,  would  seem  scarcely  consistent  with  delicacy  and  pro- 
priety.    Besides — 

'  4.  That  part  of  the  matter  brought  forward  in  Dr.  Beecher's 
trial,  which  appears  to  me  to  demand  most  explanation  and 
counter  statement,  is  the  representation  of  Professor  Stowe; 
viz.,  that  Dr.  Beecher  left  New  England  with  an  unimpaired 
reputation  for  orthodoxy.  Now  this  is  a  point  which  ought  to 
be  set  in  a  proper  light  by  the  orthodox  gentlemen  of  New 
England— by  yourself.  Dr.  Woods,  Dr.  Tyler,  Dr.  Hewit,  Dr. 
Harvey,  etc.  In  my  opinion  it  is  incumbent,  not  on  us,  but  on 
you,  to  make  it  appear,  that  there  were  those  who  considered 
and  represented  Dr.  Beecher  as  sliding  into  error,  before  he 
went  to  the  West.     *     * 

'  I  am  grieved  to  hear  Mr.  P.'s  statement  of  the  present  pos- 
ture of  Dr.  Beecher's  mind.     I  feared,  when  I  read  his  strong 


1835.]  MR.    BARNES.  271 

protestations  of  a  belief  in  the  old  school  doctrines,  that  it  was 
fro7n  the  teeth  and  outward.  The  manner  in  which  he  spoke  of 
Mr.  Finney,  on  his  trial,  very  much  revolted  and  discouraged 
me.' 

3.     Mr.  Barnes. 

No  small  part  of  Dr.  Miller's  plan  for  purifying  and  pa- 
cificating  the  Church  had  consisted  in  conciliating  his  more 
advanced  New  School  brethren,  and  inducing  them  to  at 
least  desist  from  the  defiant  publication  of  error,  and  pro- 
motion of  disorder.  Most  reluctantly  he  was  giving  up, 
from  month  to  month,  the  hope  that  they  would  listen  to 
the  counsels  of  peace ;  most  reluctantly  he  yielded  to  the 
conviction  that  sterner  measures  were  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  orthodoxy  and  Presbyterian  order.  Yet 
after  that  hope  had  been,  once  and  again,  well  nigh  aban- 
doned, we  find  him  catching,  from  time  to  time,  at  some 
imaginary  support  for  his  sinking  confidence.  Moreover 
the  prosecution  of  disciplinary  measures  for  the  correction 
of  false  doctrine  he  dreaded,  partly  because  of  their  inevi- 
table divisive  tendency,  and  the  scandal  they  were  likely, 
however  just,  and  necessary,  and  wisely  conducted,  to  bring 
upon  religion;  partly  because,  when  attempted  hitherto, 
they  had  been  managed,  in  repeated  instances,  most  unskil- 
fully, and  had  tended,  therefore,  more  to  embitter  feeling 
and  aggravate  disorder,  than  to  remove  evils,  heal  breaches, 
and  restore  health  and  comfort  to  the  Church. 

In  the  course  pursued  by  the  Biblical  Repertory,  all  the 
Professors  of  the  Seminary  seem  to  have  been  substantially 
agreed.  No  article  of  importance  was  inserted  without 
their  general  concurrence.  In  the  number  for  January, 
1835,  appeared  a  paper  upon  The  Present  State  and  Pros- 
pects of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  doubtless  expressed, 
in  substance,  Dr.  Miller's  views,  even  if  he  was  not  its 
author.^  A  few  extracts  from  this  paper  will  explain, 
therefore,  his  position,  during  the  winter  of  183-1-5. 

" we  have  felt  unable,  for  several  years  past,  to  accord 

1  No  account  of  the  authorship  of  particular  articles  was  kept  for  many  years. 
At  length,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hope,  during  hi.<  ])rofessorship  in  the  College,  made 
out  such  an  account,  as  well  as  he  could,  from  tradition  and  the  memory  of 
survivors.  His  list  attributed  the  article  above  mentioned  to  Dr.  Miller,  and 
there  is  strong  internal  evidence  that  it  was  his ;  but  by  very  high  authority  it 
is  now,  with  confidence,  attributed  to  Dr.  Alexander. 


272  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.   32.  3. 

with  all  the  views  and  movements  of  wliat  has  been  sometimes 
called  the  nltra  old-school  party,  composed  of  a  portion  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  few  brethren  in  other  judicatories 
of  the  cliurch.  AVe  have,  indeed,  venerated  their  piety,  and 
honoured  their  ardent  zeal  in  pursuing  a  course  which,  we  doubt 
not,  they  have  honestly  considered  as  adapted  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  truth  and  ecclesiastical  order.  Our  unfeigned 
desire  has  always  been  to  act  with  them,  knowing  the  elevation 
of  their  character,  and  the  general  soundness  of  their  opinions ; 
and  feeling  that  their  principles  and  ours  are,  in  all  important 
respects,  one.  But,  within  the  last  four  or  five  years,  they  have 
repeatedly  advanced  principles,  and  pursued  a  course  which  it 
was  impossible  for  us  to  contemplate  without  regret. 

uj^  ^  when  they  did  bring  before  the  highest  judicatory  of 
the  church  matters  of  just  complaint,  in  regard  to  which  sound 
principle  was  on  their  side,  and  redress  ought  to  have  been  ob- 
tained, and,  under  proper  management,  would  have  been  ob- 
tained ; — these  matters  were  so  unhappily  involved  with  ques- 
tionable theories,  or  inadmissible  or  offensive  demands,  as  almost 
to  insure  their  rejection.     *     * 

u  ^  ;;<  ^^g  ggg  j^^  reason  to  believe  that  the  evil  in  question 
[the  prevalence  of  error]  is  either  so  extensive,  or  so  deeply  seated, 
as  some  excellent  brethren  imagine.     *     * 

"*  *  we  totally  disbelieve  that  corrupt  opinions  exist 
among  the  ministers  and  elders  of  our  church,  to  the  extent 
that  is  2:)roclaimed  by  some.     *     * 

"It  is  the  part  of  wisdom,  in  contending  for  the  truth,  to  pre- 
sent her  claims  in  an  unembarrassed  form,  and  to  fight  her  bat- 
tles on  well  selected  ground.  We  have  no  doubt  that  sound, 
old-school  principles  would  have  fared  far  better  in  the  General 
Assembly — nay,  that  they  would  have  invariably  triumphed, 

IF   THEY  HAD   BEEN   MANAGED    AND    PRESENTED   WITH    EVEN 

TOLERABLE  DISCRETION.  But  in  most  cascs,  if  not  every  one, 
not  (jnly  had  the  previous  management  been  unskilful  and  in- 
judicious ;  but  each  case  was  finally  brought  before  the  highest 
judicatory,  under  such  an  aspect,  and  so  unhappily  mixed  up 
with  other  and  highly  exciting  matters,  as  almost  to  ensure  an 
unfavourable  reception.     *     * 

*'  On  such  a  subject  it  would  be  an  irksome  task  to  enter  into 
details.  ^  Suffice  it  to  say,  as  a  specimen  of  what  we  mean — that 
the  original  complex  management,  and  final  presentation  to  the 
Assembly  of  the  first  striking  case  which  occurred  in  1831 ;  the 
whole  management  of  the  case  relating  to  the  division  of  the 
Pre.sl)ytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  1831  and  1832  ;  the  pertinacious 
denial  of  the  right  of  the  General  Assembly  to  erect  new  Pres- 


1835.]  MR.  BARNES.  273 

byteries ;  the  refusal  to  acknowledge  the  Presbytery  formed  by 
the  Assembly  in  1832,  and  shutting  out  all  its  members  from 
their  seats  in  Synod ;  the  attempted  dissolution  of  that  Presby- 
tery, by  a  Synod ical  act,  in  1833  ;  the  adoption  and  presenta- 
tion of  the  AVestern  Memorial  in  1834;  and  last,  though  not 
least,  recommending  in  the  "Act  and  Testimony,"  that  no  Pres- 
bytery or  Synod  formed  by  the  Assembly  on  the  elective  affinity 
principle,  should  ever  be  acknowledged  as  a  judicatory  at  all; 
these  are  a  specimen  of  the  management  and  the  measures  over 
which  we  have  never  ceased  to  lament,  as  most  unwise ;  as 
adapted  to  weaken  the  hands  of  old-school  men ;  and  to  bring 
their  system,  and  their  portion  of  the  church  into  disrepute."^ 

Mr.  Barnes,  certainly,  did  not  appreciate  Dr.  Miller's 
advice  to  the  New  School,  to  cease  offending  their  brethren. 
In  1834, — the  preface  bears  date  of  June  14th, — he  pub- 
lished his  "Notes,  Explanatory  and  Practical,  on  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans,"  which  manifested  the  more  censurable 
inconsiderateness,  because,  in  about  a  year  afterward,  he 
issued  a  "fifth  edition,  revised  and  corrected,"  in  which  he 
acknowledged  and  rectified  quite  a  number  of  unhappy  ex- 
pressions at  least.  Any  one  who  compares  the  two  edi- 
tions must  certainly  wonder,  that  language  needing  such 
correction  could  have  been  used,  especially  after  the  au- 
thor's prior  experience,  inadvertently. 

The  New- School  party  had  all  along  insisted,  that  a  pub- 
lication could  not,  with  justice,  be  ecclesiastically  con- 
demned, unless  its  author  had  first  been  tried  and  found 
guilty.  They  were  now  to  be  met  on  their  own  ground. 
The  Rev.  George  Junkin,  D.D.,  belonging  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Newton,  preferred  charges  of  doctrinal  error  against 
Mr.  Barnes,  in  March,  1835,  before  the  Second  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia.  The  charges  Avere  founded  upon  his  Notes 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Odium  was  cast  upon  Dr.  Jun- 
kin, as  a  member  of  another  presbytery  going  a  "heresy 
hunting"  out  of  his  own  proper  sphere;  but  this  was  most 
unreasonable,  as  no  member  of  Mr.  Barnes's  presbytery, 
formed  by  the  Assembly  for  the  very  purpose  of  giving  him 
respite  from  ^'persecution,"  would  commence  process  ;  and 
no  remedy  remained,  unless  a  member  of  another  judicatory 
appeared  as  prosecutor.  The  only  proper  question  then 
was,  whether  the  charges   tabled   by  Dr.  Junkin  were  a 

1  Pp.  60,  63—66. 


274  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  3. 

suiBcient  ground  of  prosecution,  and  could  be  sustained. 
These  charges  embraced,  no  doubt,  some  points  of  minor 
importance,  and  one  of  them,  at  least,  represented  as  an 
error  what,  perhaps,  very  few  besides  the  prosecutor  would 
so  consider ;  but  they  embraced  also,  undoubtedly,  some 
very  important  points.^     After  a  singularly  unwise  course 

1  For  many  readers  it  may  be  desirable  to  give  a  brief  statement  of  the  prin- 
cipal errors  supposed  to  be  taught  in  Mr.  Barnes's  Notes  on  Romans,  It  may 
be  premised,  that  it  was  hardly  an  error  to  maintain  (charge  4)  that  saving 
faith  was  an  act,  not  a  principle,  of  the  soul;  (P.  94;)  and  that  the  opinion 
(charge  2)  that  Adam  did  not  understand,  before  the  fall,  the  consequences,  be- 
yond his  own  natural  death,  of  transgression,  (P.  115,)  was  an  error  compara- 
tively unimportant.  Mr.  Barnes  taught  a  general  atonement,  denied  the  eter- 
nal Sonship  of  Christ,  and  represented  Abraham's  justifying  faith  as  faith  in 
God's  general  promises,  particularly  the  promise  of  a  numerous  posterity,  not 
faith  in  Christ;  (Pp.  94,  95,  103  ;)  but  these  errors,  probably  because  they  were 
thought  not  to  be  so  serious  as  others,  were  not  made  the  ground  of  any  dis- 
tinct charge.  The  more  important  accusations  were  the  following : — (1)  All 
sin  consists  in  voluntary  action :  there  can  be,  therefore,  no  original  sin 
(charge  1) : — "In  all  this,  and  in  all  other  sin,  man  is  voluntary."  (P.  249.) — 
"  They  [Jacob  and  Esau]  had  no  moral  character.  They  had  done  nothing 
good  or  bad;  and  where  that  is  the  case  there  can  be  no  character,  for  charac- 
ter is  the  result  of  conduct."  (P.  192.) — ''Men  will  not  be  held  to  be  guilty 
unless  there  is  a  law  which  binds  them,  of  which  they  are  apprized,  and  which 
they  voluntarily  transgress."  (P.  118.) — (2.)  Unregenerate  men  are  able  to 
keep  God's  commandments  (charge  3) : — This  Mr.  Barnes  but  covertly  asserted, 
by  denying  that  this  and  that  passage  taught  human  inability.  (Pp.  108,  164, 
165.) — (3.)  The  first  sin  of  Adam  was  not  imputed  to  his  posterity.  A  certain 
laxity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  imputation — holding,  for  example, 
a  mediate,  instead  of  an  immediate,  imputation — had  long  been  tolerated  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  But  Mr.  Barnes  denied  the  doctrine  of  imputation 
altogether — denied  it  with  peculiar  directness,  earnestness,  and  reiteration, 
(charges  5,  6,  7.) — "Where  Paul  states  a  simple  fact,  men  often  advance  a 
theory.  *  *  he  that  calls  in  question  their  speculation  about  the  cause,  or 
the  mode,  is  set  down  as  heretical,  -■''  *  A  melancholy  instance  of  this  we 
have  in  the  account  which  the  apostle  gives  (ch.  v.)  about  the  effect  of  the  sin 
of  Adam.  The  simple  fact  is  stated  that  that  sin  was  followed  by  the  sin  and 
ruin  of  all  his  posterity.  *  "*  Yet  men  have  not  been  satisfied  with  that. 
They  have  sought  for  a  theory  to  account  for  it.  And  many  suppose  they  have 
found  it  in  the  doctrine  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  imputed,  or  set  over  by  an  ar- 
bitrary arrangement  to  beings  otherwise  innocent,  and  that  they  are  held  to  be 
responsible  for  a  deed  committed  by  a  man  thousands  of  years  before  they  were 
born.  This  is  the  thtory ;  and  men  insensibly  forget  that  it  is  mere  theory, 
*  *■"  (P.  X.) — "The  most  common  [explanation]  has  been  that  Adam  was 
the  representative  of  the  race;  that  he  was  a  covenant  head,  and  that  his  sin 
was  imputed  to  his  posterity,  and  that  they  were  held  liable  to  punishment  for 
it  as  if  they  had  committed  it  themselves.  But  to  this,  there  are  great  and  in- 
superable objections.  (1.)  There  is  not  one  word  of  it  in  the  Bible.  *  *  (2.) 
It  is  a  mere  philosophical  theory;  *  *"  (P.  128.) — "What  idea  is  conveyed 
to  men  of  common  understanding  by  the  expression  'they  sinned  in  him?'" 
(P.  117.  See  Short.  Catechism,  Q.  16.  See,  also.  Pp.  119,  121, 127.)— (4.)  The 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  imputed  to  his  people  for  their  justification  :  faith 
is  the  f/round  of  justification,  which  is  merely  pardon  (charges  8,  9,  10.): — 
''(4)  It  is  not  that  A("8  righteousness  becomes  ours.  That  is  not  true  :  and  there 
is  no  intelligible  sense  in  which  that  can  be  understood."  P.  28.)— "It  [Ro- 
mans 4,  5]  does  not  refer  to  the  righteousness  of  another— of  God,  or  of  the 


1835.]  MR.  BARNES.  275 

of  deprecatory  and  obstructive  proceedings,  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Barnes  and  his  friends,  the  trial  took  phice.  Of  course, 
the  Presbytery  dismissed  the  charges  ;  but  to  this  judgment 
it  added  a  declaration,  that  the  christian  spirit  manifested 
by  the  prosecutor,  during  the  progress  of  the  trial,  ren- 
dered it  inexpedient  to  inflict  any  censure  on  him.^ 

Dr.  Junkin  appealed  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  Af- 
ter the  decision  of  Presbytery,  and  before  the  trial  of  the 
appeal  in  Synod,  Mr.  Barnes  published  the  revised  edition, 
already  mentioned,  of  his  work  on  Romans.  The  ''Adver- 
tisement" to  this  edition  is  a  curiosity.  After  referring  to 
changes  made  in  some  passages  which  had  been  misunder- 
stood, some  which  were  really  ambiguous,  and  a  few  that 
had  given  offence,  and  might  be  made  more  acceptable 
without  the  abandonment  of  principle,  he  added,  "On  some 
of  these  passages,  as  is  extensively  known  to  the  public, 
charges  of  inculcating  dangerous  doctrines  have  been  al- 
leged against  me  before  the  Presbytery  of  which  I  am  a 

Messiah;  but  the  discussion  is  solely  of  the  fttrong  act  of  Abraham's  faith, 
which  in  some  sense  was  counted  to  him  for  righteousness.  *  *'  All  that  is 
material  to  remark  here  is,  that  the  act  of  Abraham,  the  strong  confidence  of 
his  mind  in  the  promises  of  God,  his  unwavering  assurance  that  what  Gud  had 
promised  he  would  perform,  was  reckoned  for  righteousness."  (P.  94.) — *'The 
word  [imputation,  in  Scripture]  is  never  used  to  denote  impntiwj  in  the  sense 
of  transferring,  or  of  charging  that  on  one  which  does  not  properly  belong  to 
•him."  (P.  95.) — ''Unto  uhom  God  iivpvteth  riyhteousness.  •*  *  This  is  found 
in  Ps.  xxxii.  And  the  whole  scope  and  design  of  the  psalm  is  to  show  the 
blessedness  of  the  man  who  is  forgiven,  •■•  '^"  (P.  97.  See,  also.  Pp.  110, 
124,  182.) — Mr.  Barnes  still  insisted  that  he  was  not  bound,  as  an  interpreter, 
by  any  creed.  "  The  design  has  been  to  state  what  appeared  to  the  author  to 
be  the  real  meaning  of  the  Epistle,  without  any  regard  to  any  existing  theo- 
logical system  ;  ^-  *"  The  sanie,  substantially,  he  had  before  said  of  his  duty 
and  design  as  a  minister;  (See  p.  159  of  this  vol.;)  and,  as  to  both  points,  his 
principle  was  right ;  but  was  it  right  to  remain  a  Presbyterian  minister,  in  a 
Presbyterian  church,  bound  by  a  solemn  subscription  to  a  Presbyterian  creed, 
while  teaching  and  preaching  "  without  any  regard  "  to  the  Presbyterian  '•  theo- 
logical system "'  ? 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  while,  in  the  passages  quoted,  and  others,  Mr. 
Barnes  seemed  to  teach  the  errors  mentioned,  he  seemed  also,  in  some  pas- 
sages, to  teach  the  opposite  truths.  Representations  most  contradictory  of 
each  other,  according  to  the  settled  usages  of  theological  language,  might  be 
brought  together,  in  great  variety,  from  different  parts  of  his  work.  Of  all 
theological  system  he  was  most  remarkably  independent.  Yet  he  was  wonder- 
fully dependent,  throughout  his  interpretation  of  the  Epistle,  upon  certain 
opinions,  not  original,  either,  with  himself.  To  the  common  doctrine  of  impu- 
tation, which,  however,  he  totally  misrepresented, — against  this  doctrine  in 
name,  and  as  he  exhibited  it, — he  manifested  a  mortal  antipathy ;  yet.  in  some 
passages,  he  seemed  to  teach,  as  if  unconsciously,  the  true  doctrine  itself.  In 
fact,  the  whole  performance  gave  evidence  of  undue  haste,  and  of  immature 
study  of  both  his  own  creed  and  that  of  his  brethren. 

iBook  of  Discipline,  Ch.  V.  7. 


276  TRIUMPH    AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  3. 

member.  After  a  fair  and  full  trial  the  Presbytery  ac- 
quitted me ;  and  I  have  taken  the  opportunity  after  the 
trial  was  passed,  and  I  had  been  acquitted,  to  make  these 
changes  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  not  to  appear  to  have 
been  urged  to  make  them  by  the  dread  of  a  trial. "^  Could 
any  imputation  of  dreading  a  trial  be  so  serious  a  matter  as 
a  misunderstanding  of  the  doctrines  of  Scripture  by  the 
*' Bible  Classes  and  Sunday  Schools"  for  which  Mr.  Barnes 
had  written?  Were  the  claims  of  his  readers  to  exact  gos- 
pel instruction  to  come  into  consideration  only  after  he  had 
taken  time  to  prove  his  own  courage?  The  Synod,  in  Oc- 
tober, with  a  near  approach  to  unanimity,  reversed  the  de- 
cision of  Presbytery ;  and,  by  a  somewhat  smaller  major- 
ity, condemned  Mr.  Barnes  on  every  charge,  and  suspended 
him  "from  the  exercise  of  all  the  functions  proper  to  the 
Gospel  Ministry,"  until  he  should  retract  the  errors  con- 
demned, and  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  repentance. 
Mr.  Barnes,  of  course,  appealed  from  this  decision  to  the 
General  Assembly. 

An  unfortunate  interlocutory  decision  of  Synod  was  of 
itself  enough  to  insure  the  reversal  of  its  judgment.  The 
Assembly  of  1835,  having  declared  the  Synod  of  Delaware 
dissolved  "at  and  after  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Phi- 
ladelphia," and  the  presbyteries  belonging  to  the  former 
re-attached  to  the  latter  "at  and  after"  that  meeting,  the 
appeal  had  been  taken  to  the  latter  Synod:  the  former,  in 
fact,  never  met  again.  But,  when  the  case  was  called  up, 
the  Presbytery  refused  to  lay  its  record  before  the  appellate 
court,  on  the  grounds  that,  at  the  date  of  the  trial  and  de- 
cision to  be  reviewed,  the  Synod  of  Delaware  had  been  still 
in  existence ;  and  that,  besides,  the  Assembly  had  passed 
no  order  for  the  transfer  of  the  books,  minutes,  and  un- 
finished business  of  that  Synod  to  any  other.  The  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  pronounced  this  refusal  '''obstinate^  vexa- 
tious^ U7ijust,  uncandid,  contumacious  aud  grossly/  disor- 
derly'— an  accumulation  of  epithets  perhaps  undignified; 
much  as  the  Presbytery  may  have  deserved  rebuke  for  will- 
fully obstructing  the  course  of  justice  by  such  doubtful 
technicalities ;  and  the  more  especially  because,  in  an  in- 
formal manner,  it  had  signified  to  Dr.  Junkin  the  opinion, 

ip.  iv. 


1835,]  MR.  BARNES.  277 

that  the  appeal  lay  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  and  that 
only. 

But  not  content  with  thus  censuring  the  Second  Presby- 
tery, the  Synod  proceeded  to  try  the  appeal  without  the 
record ;  when,  obviously,  the  right  course  would  have  beea 
to  compel  its  production,  and  postpone  the  hearing  until 
that  had  been  accomplished.  This  would,  indeed,  have  in- 
volved delay;  but  "the  law's  delays"  are  often  far  better 
than  the  suitor's  haste.  Mr.  Barnes  professed  to  be  quite 
ready  for  the  trial,  but  objected  to  proceeding  without  the 
record  ;  and  when  the  Synod  decided  that  an  authentic  copy 
of  it,  which  they  had  before  them,  was  sufficient,  and  en- 
tered upon  the  hearing,  he  refused  to  defend  himself,  or  take 
any  part  in  the  business.  Thus  complicated,  the  case  was 
carried  up,  by  Mr.  Barnes's  appeal,  to  the  Assembly- of 
1836. 

Mr.  Barnes  then  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller  asking  whether  he 
ought,  in  these  circumstances,  to  go  on  preaching,  or  to  be 
silent,  while  the  appeal  was  pending.  The  latter  replied 
as  follows : — 

'Rev'd  and  dear  Brother,  Princeton,  November  11, 1835. 

'Your  letter  of  the  9th  instant  reached  me  yesterday. 
I  had  heard,  before  its  arrival,  of  the  doings  of  the  Synod  in 
your  case.  Of  those  doings  you  will  not,  of  course,  expect  me 
to  give  an  opinion. 

*  I  should  be  glad,  indeed,  to  be  excused  from  giving  an 
opinion  on  any  one  point  connected  with  this  case.  Yet  I  can- 
not reconcile  it  with  my  feelings  to  refuse  advice,  on  a  question 
of  real  difficulty,  to  an  old  pupil,  and  one  whom  I  regard  as  a 
brother  in  Christ.  I  cannot  help  recognizing  your  right  to  the 
counsel  of  your  elder  brethren,  in  a  case  in  which  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  your  prospective  movements  be  wise, 
constitutional,  and  for  edification. 

*In  my  opinion,  then,  you  ought,  by  all  means,  in  present 
circumstances,  to  go  on  preaching,  until  your  appeal  shall  be 
issued,  for  the  following  reasons: — 

'  I.  To  do  so  will  be,  in  my  judgment,  perfectly  constitutional. 
The  rule,  you  are  aware,  is,  that  the  "operation  of  an  appeal 
is,  to  suspend  all  further  proceedings  on  the  ground  of  the  sentence 
appealed  from.  But  if  a  sentence  of  suspension  or  excom- 
munication from  church  privileges,  or  of  depo.ntion  from  office, 
be  the  sentence  appealed  from,  it  shall  be  considered  as  in  force 
until  the  appeal  shall  be  issued."     Your  sentence  is,  evidently, 


278  TRIUMPH    AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  3. 

not  included  in  this  exception ;  and,  of  course,  as  it  appears  to 
me,  you  ^vill  infringe  no  rule,  nor  violate  any  principle  of  con- 
stitutional respect  to  the  Synod,  by  availing  yourself  of  a  priv- 
ileo-e  which  the  constitution  gives  you.  Upon  the  very  same 
principle,  I  felt  constrained,  last  year,  to  justify  your  presbytery 
in  continuing  to  live  and  act,  notwithstanding  the  sentence  of 
the  Synod  dissolving  it,  when  you  had  appealed  from  that 
sentence  to  the  General  Assembly. 

*II.  To  go  on  preaching  until  your  appeal  shall  be  issued,  will 
be,  also,  m  my  opinion,  ivise  and  proper,  because  your  silence, 
until  next  June,  could  hardly  fail  of  producing  great  mischief 
in  your  congregation.  Were  you  entirely  to  suspend  all  minis- 
terial acts  until  that  time,  it  would  keep  all  the  members  of  the 
congregation,  whether  j^ious  or  otherwise,  in  a  state  of  continual 
agitation,  resentment  and  irascible  feeling;  totally  unfitted 
either  to  receive  benefit  from  gospel  ordinances,  or  to  impart 
benefit  to  others.  Such  a  winter,  I  should  suppose,  could 
hardly  fail  of  being  eternally  destructive  to  a  number  of  souls. 

*  Were  I  in  your  situation,  therefore,  though,  under  some  as- 
pects of  the  subject,  a  carnal  jDolicy  might  seem  to  dictate  a 
different  decision,  I  would  go  on  to  preach  until  the  issue  of  the 
appeal  by  the  next  Assembly. 

'In  the  mean  time,  allow  one  word  of  counsel  from  an  honest 
friend,  who  unfeignedly  wishes  well  both  to  you  and  your  people. 
If  I  were  in  your  situation,  I  should  consider  it  as  equally  a 
dictate  of  policy  and  of  christian  duty,  to  do  every  thing  in  my 
power  to  soothe  and  calm  the  feelings  of  the  congregation :  to 
keep  them,  not  only  quiet,  but  meek,  submissive  and  perfectly 
orderly,  until  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  shall  send  regular 
and  constitutional  relief.  I  can  say  with  truth,  that  I  have  a 
feeling  of  peculiar  attachment  to  your  church,  and,  of  course, 
deprecate  its  taking  any  rash  or  wrong  step.  Rely  upon  it, 
whoever  lives  to  see  five  years  hence,  will  see  the  wisdom,  on 
temporal,  but  above  all,  on  spiritual  accounts,  of  remaining  in 
regular  connexion  with  the  General  Assembly.  Those  who 
wish  to  avoid  protracted  civil  litigation,  as  well  as  painful  eccle- 
siastical feuds,  ought  to  strive  studiously  and  prayerfully  to 
occupy  this  ground. 

'  One  word  more.  Longing  and  praying,  as  I  most  heartily 
do,  for  your  increasing  comfort  and  usefulness,  both  as  a  man 
and  a  minister;  I  earnestly  hope,  that  the  coming  season,  during 
which  the  constitutional  provision  allows  you  to  lift  up  your 
voice  for  Clirist,  and  to  go  in  and  out  before  your  people,  will 
be  a  season  of  great  s})iritual  benefit  to  your  own  soul ;  a  season 
of  great  searching  of  heart,  and  of  calm,  humble,  profound  ex- 


1836.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  279 

animation  into  the  motives  and  character  of  all  that  has  passed. 
You  say,  in  your  letter,  that  you  are  suspended  for  holding 
"doctrines  which  you  abhor  as  much  as  any  member  of  the 
Synod."  My  dear  Brother,  how  is  this?  Why  have  you  been 
so  entirely  misunderstood,  and  so  falsely  accused?  Is  all  the 
blame  attributable  to  your  accusers?  Have  you  done  all  in 
your  power  to  guard  against  suspicious  and  offensive  modes  of 
expression  ?  Have  you  been  as  guarded  in  stating,  and  as  frank 
in  explaining,  your  views,  as  the  exigencies  of  your  situation 
evidently  demanded?  Or  has  an  unjustifiable  mixture  of  proud 
and  independent  feeling  prevented  you  from  giving  that  satis- 
faction to  your  brethren,  which  the  state  of  their  minds  earnestly 
called  for?  Or  have  you  been  in  any  wise  influenced,  in  any 
of  these  matters,  by  counsellors  of  inferior  wisdom  to  yourself? 
If  you  will  allow  me  to  use  that  paternal  freedom  which  you 
have  invited,  and  which  my  own  feelings  prompt  me  to  indulge, 
I  will  say,  that  I  have  thought  you  were  in  fault  in  these  re- 
spects. If,  in  the  course  of  the  coming  winter,  you  should  re- 
examine this  whole  ground ;  and  solemnly  inquire,  whether  you 
have  been,  on  all  occasions,  sufficiently  frank,  explicit,  accommo- 
dating, and  ready  to  consult  the  feelings,  the  prejudices,  and 
even  (if  such  in  any  case  existed)  the  unkind  suspicions  of  your 
brethren,  and  to  give  them  all  the  satisfaction  in  your  power; 
I  shall  hope,  that  you  will  find  the  season  and  the  exercise  truly 
profitable. 

'You  invite  me  to  suggest  any  plan,  by  which  this  whole 
matter  may  be  prevented  from  going  to  the  General  Assembly, 
and  have  a  pacific  turn  given  to  it.  I  do  not  feel  prepared,  at 
present,  to  offer  any  suggestions  of  this  kind.  When  I  know 
more  in  detail  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  than  I  yet  do,  I 
may  offer  some  hints ;  but  I  know  not  that  I  shall  deem  it  proper 
to  attempt  anything  of  the  sort. 

'  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  most  sincerely,  your 

'friend  and  brother  in  Christ, 

'Samuel  Miller. 

'P.  S.  Dr.  Alexander  is  still  in  Virginia,  and  will  probably 
not  return  for  four  or  five  days.  If  he  were  at  home,  I  am  sure 
he  would  promptly  and  cordially  reply  to  the  letter,  which  his 
son,  Mr.  J.  W.  A.,  informs  me  you  have  written  to  him.' 

Mr.  Barnes  did  not  take  Dr.  Miller's  advice,  but  ceased 
preaching  until  the  General  Assembly  had  removed  the 
Synod's  sentence  of  suspension. 

4.  Correspondence. 
To  Mr.  Nettleton  Dr.  Miller  wrote  a  letter  on  the  9th  of 
February,    1836,  from  which   the   following    extracts  are 


280  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  4. 

taken.  Those  portions  which  reflect  severely  upon  Dr. 
Beecher  would  have  been  omitted,  had  they  not  appeared 
already  in  his  Autobiography.^  Mr.  Nettleton  permitted 
Dr.  Tyler  to  see  the  Letter ;  Dr.  Tyler  copied  the  portions 
referred  to ;  and  they  were  communicated  to  others.  All 
that  can  be  said  fairly  is,  that  it  seems  to  be  a  pity  that 
the  letter  was  written,  and  a  pity  that  it  went  beyond  Mr. 
Nettleton.  To  condemn  the  writer  might  be  to  fall  into  the 
very  error  attributed  to  him — the  error  of  judging  another 
upon  insufficient  evidence.  Our  horizon  is  too  limited,  for 
us  to  deny  every  luminary  that  does  not  rise  in  our  visible 
heaven.  Our  own  planet  is  as  bright  as  any  other  wanderer  in 
the  sun's  train,  but  not  to  the  narrow  vision  of  earthly  eyes. 

*I  feel  particularly  indebted  for  your  kindness  in  communi- 
cating a  copy  of  Dr.  Tyler's  letter.  *  *  I  cannot  but  hope  that 
such  a  letter's  being  shown  to  Dr.  Beecher — as  it  doubtless  was 
by  Mr.  Stowe — may  have  been  useful  to  him.  Yet,  to  say  the 
truth,  I  was  much  discouraged  in  one  thing  in  Dr.  Beecher's 
trial :  I  mean,  that  he  should,  after  making  such  explanations 
and  declarations,  as  really  placed  him  upon  pretty  thorough 
old-school  ground^  have  spoken,  as  he  did,  of  Dr.  Taylor  and  Mr. 
Finney!  I  cannot  ascribe  this  to  the  want  of  discernment. 
I  fear  it  must  be  set  down  to  the  score  of  something  which  I 
hardly  dare  to  name  even  to  my  own  mind.  Is  it  possible  to  recon- 
cile that  man's  whole  course  with  a  sound,  honest  and  straight- 
forward purpose?  I  really  have  an  affection  for  the  man.  It 
would  give  me  pleasure — more  pleasure  than  I  can  express — to 
see  him  come  out  bright  and  entirely  consistent.  But  I  fear 
there  has  been  somewhere  such  a  tampering  with  conscience,  as 
will  be  found  to  eat  like  a  canker  both  into  character  and  use- 
fulness. 

'  You  ask,  "  Is  it  not  amazingly  strange,  that  men  who  pro- 
fess to  hold  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  assure 
us  that  they  abhor  the  New  Haven  speculations,  should  yet  be 
always  found  contending  and  voting  on  the  New  Haven  side, 
and  against  their  professed  conscientious  convictions?"  Truly 
it  is  above  measure  strange!  I  know  not  how  to  account  for  it 
but  by  supposing,  that  they  are  either  hoodwinked  and  deceived 
by  men  more  cunning  and  less  honest  than  themselves;  or  that 
their  instinctive  party  feelings,  when  brought  to  the  test,  tri- 
umph over  conscience,  and  everything  else  that  ought  to  govern 
their  decisions.  Surely  if  this  practice  be  continued,  the  most 
gloomy  anticipations  must  be  formed  of  our  prospects. 

1  II.  Vol.,  382,  3,  4,  etc. 


1836.]  CORRESPONDENCE.  281 

'  You  express  some  doubt  how  far  those  restricted  views  of 
the  Atonement,  which  are  popularly  known  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Gethsemane  "  views,  are  now  adopted  by  the  ministers  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  My  impression  is,  that  the  number 
of  those  who  receive  them  is  extremely  small.  Indeed,  I  can 
recollect,  at  this  moment,  but  one  man  in  our  whole  Church, 
who  was  ever  known  to  me  as  having  avowed  his  belief  in  that 
form  of  the  doctrine ;  and  that,  strange  to  tell !  is  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Ely,  late  of  Philadelphia,  and  now  of  Marion  College.  I  doubt 
whether  half  a  dozen  men  in  our  whole  body  unite  with  him  in 
this  opinion.  The  estimate  of  Mr.  Plumer  is,  I  am  persuaded, 
greatly  above  the  mark.  Instead  of  a  thirtieth,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  an  eightieth — perhaps  not  a  hundredth — part  of  our 
ministers  embrace  the  opinion.  Dr.  Green,  I  happen  to  know, 
does  not  embrace  it.  *  * 

'I  was  much  struck  with  Dr.  Tyler's  just  remark,  that  "at- 
tempts are  now  made  to  account  for  all  opposition  to  Dr. 
Beecher  and  Dr.Taylor,  on  the  ground  of  sheer  prejudice  against 
the  Xew  England  divines  as  a  body."  I  am  aware  of  this  fact. 
Those  who  wish  to  make  this  impression,  after  presenting  a  dis- 
honest caricature  of  old  Calvinism — dressing  it  up  in  real 
verity,  "  in  bear  skins,"  try  to  persuade  their  disciples  that  none 
but  such  as  adopt  this  ultra  orthodoxy  have  any  objection  to 
the  New  Haven  opinions.  There  cannot  be  a  more  unjust 
statement;  nor  can  any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  facts  believe 
it.  For,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  well  known,  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  divines  resident  in  New  England,  most  eminent  for 
talents,  learning,  and  piety,  are  as  strongly  opposed  to  the  New 
Haven  errors  as  any  of  us.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  well 
known,  that  a  number  of  revered  and  beloved  ministers  of  our 
own  church,  originally  from  New  England,  and  still  possessing 
no  small  share  of  New  England  feeling,  such  as  Dr.  Kichards, 
Dr.  Spring,  Dr.  J.  Woodbridge,  Dr.  Fisher,  Dr.  Hillyer,  and  a 
number  more  like  them,  while  they  enjoy  the  entire  confidence 
of  their  brethren,  think  as  unfavorably  of  the  New  Haven 
speculations  as  any  of  our  number. 

*  I  would,  gladly,  my  dear  Brother,  take  some  public  notice  of 
Dr.  Beecher's  having,  without  permission,  published  the  letter 
which  I  sent  him  in  1837.  But  it  appears  to  me  that  the  same 
reasons  which  operated  three  months  ago  to  prevent  it  are  equal- 
ly strong  now.  His  case  is  pending  before  the  Assembly,  and 
as  nothing  new  has  occurred,  within  the  last  three  months,  to 
call  me  before  the  public  in  reference  to  it,  I  cannot  reconcile 
it  with  my  sense  of  duty,  to  come  out,  at  this  late  day,  *  * 
Dr.  Beecher  has  thought  proper  to  come  out  an  old-school  man. 

Vol.  II.— 24 


282  TRIUMPH    AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  4. 

If  he  will  be  a  steady  and  consistent  one,  let  us  not  present  any- 
unnecessary  obstacle.' 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Rev.  David 
Magie,  D.D.,  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey. 

'Rev'd.  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  February  10,  1836. 

'  I  cannot  help  feeling  the  deepest  anxiety  respecting 
the  character  and  doings  of  the  next  General  Assembly.  It  ap- 
pears to  me,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
at  its  last  meeting,  have  greatly  augmented  both  our  difficulties 
and  dangers.  But,  while  they  have  acted  so  unwise  *  *  a 
part,  I  think  I  see  clearly,  that,  if  the  General  Assembly  should 
condemn  them  throughout,  and  sustain  Mr.  Barnes,  a  founda- 
tion would  be  laid  for  an  immeasurable  amount  of  future  litiga- 
tion, strife  and  mischief  The  following  course,  on  the  part  of 
the  General  Assembly,  as  it  strikes  me,  v/ill  have  the  advantage 
of  being  just  and  equitable,  as  well  as  adapted,  more  than  any 
other  course,  to  promote  ultimate  quietness  and  peace. 

'I.  Censure  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  for  refus- 
ing to  produce  their  minutes,  and  to  let  the  trial  of  the  appeal 
in  Mr.  Barnes's  case,  go  on  regularly ;  as  manifestly  unreasona- 
ble, contumacious,  contrary  to  the  evident  intention  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  in  dissolving  the  Synod  of  Delaware,  and  alto- 
gether disorderly. 

'  II.  Censure  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  for  going  on  to  try  the 
appeal,  when  Mr.  Barnes  was  not  really  before  them;  when  the 
authentic  records  of  the  preceding  trial  were  not  in  possession 
of  the  Synod ;  and  when,  of  course,  no  step  could  be  taken  in 
the  case  to  give  a  constitutional  issue  to  the  appeal. 

*  III.  Sustain  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Barnes — in  other  words,  take 
off  his  suspension,  and  restore  him  to  the  exercise  of  his  minis- 
terial functions,  pronouncing  the  sentence  of  suspension  unduly 
severe. 

'  IV.  Pronounce  Mr.  Barnes's  book  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, to  contain  language  of  a  very  exceptionable  character,  not 
reconcilable  with  Scripture,  or  with  our  public  formularies;  and 
enjoin  on  him  to  review  and  correct  it. 

*  V,  Dissolve  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  which 
the  Assembly  created  three  years  ago,  and  attach  its  members 
to  the  First  and  Second  Synodical  Presbyteries,  according  to 
geographical  position. 

*If  these  five  things  are  done,  I  think  retributive  justice 
will  be  well  administered;  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  will 
be  mortified,  (which  it  deserves  to  be,)  but  will  quietly  submit; 
Mr.  Barnes's  party  will  consider  themselves  as  having  gained 
a  sort  of  triumph,  and  will,  of  course,  be  quiet ;  and  peace 
will  be  again  restored  to  our  ranks. 


1836.]      MR.  BARNES    IN    THE    ASSEMBLY    OF    1836.  283 

*I  take  the  liberty,  my  dear  Sir,  to  transmit  these  suggestions 
to  you,  knowing  the  interest  you  take  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Church;  and  assured,  however  you  may  differ  from  me  in  judg- 
ment, you  will  take  kindly  the  expression  of  opinion  which  I 
have  ventured  to  offer.  I  know  not  whether  the  meeting  of  your 
Presbytery,  at  which  you  make  your  appointment  of  delegates 
to  the  Assembly,  has  already  taken  place,  or  is  yet  to  occur. 
But  knowing,  as  I  do,  your  great  influence  with  the  members 
of  that  body,  and  being  perfectly  confident  that  your  judg- 
ment and  feelings  are  both  on  the  side  of  accommodation  and 
peace,  I  am  persuaded  it  is  not  yet  too  late  (if  your  view  of  the 
subject  will  allow  of  it)  for  you  to  interpose  such  counsel  as  will 
secure  a  corresponding  judgment  and  conduct  on  the  part  of 
your  delegates.  I  commit  the  whole  matter  to  your  fraternal 
kindness  and  indulgence. 

*  My  great  solicitude  for  the  purity,  peace  and  edification  of 
our  beloved  church  must  be  my  apology  for  troubling  you  with 
this  letter.  "'=  ^  ^^  ^  ^  - 

*  P.  S.  I  think  if  you  knew  one  half  of  the  strange,  disorderly 
doings  of  the  unlucky  Second  Presbytery,  (Assembly's,)  you 
would  decisively  adopt  the  opinion,  that  until  it  is  dissolved, 
there  can  be  no  peace  in  the  church.' 

The  Rev.  William  S.  Plumer  wrote  to  Dr.  Beecher,  on 
the  30th  of  January,  1836,  making  inquiry  as  to  certain 
charges  against  the  latter,  and  Dr.  Beecher  replied. 

"  Copies  of  these  letters  were  carried  to  the  East  by  Professor 
Stowe,  in  the  earnest  hope,  to  which  Dr.  Beecher  clung  so  stead- 
fastly to  the  very  last,  of  assuaging  or  averting  open  rupture 
between  brethren  once  tenderly  united,  to  be  submitted,  if  oppor- 
tunity offered,  to  the  brethren  at  Andover,  East  Windsor,  and 
Princeton.  In  reference  to  the  latter.  Professor  Stowe  writes, 
May  2,1836:  "I  have  been  providentially  prevented  from 
going  to  Princeton.  Mr.  Barnes  said,  if  it  was  his  case,  he 
would  not  have  me  go  on  any  account.  He  said  it  was  of  no 
use  to  pay  court  to  Princeton  ;  matters  had  come  to  such  a  pass 
that  Princeton  must  be  resisted  and  humbled  rather  than  con- 
ciliated."^ 

5.     Mr.  Barnes  in  the  Assembly  of  1836. 

While  the  case  of  ]Mr.  Barnes  had  excited  so  much  atten- 
tion, and  was  becoming  the  acknowledged  test  of  the 
Church's  recuperative  power,  discipline  for  error  had  not 
been  in  other  quarters  wholly  unattempted.     As  early  as 

1  2  Autobioo:.  of  Dr.  Beecher,  392. 


284  TRIUMPH   AND   DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  5. 

1832,  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle  had  commenced  proceed- 
ings against  the  Rev.  George  Duffield  on  account  of  his 
doctrinal  aberrations.  He  was  condemned,  but  only  ad- 
monished ;  and,  though  he  appealed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, did  not  prosecute  his  appeal.  The  Synod  found  fault 
with  the  Presbytery  for  its  leniency,  but  nothing  further, 
in  this  case,  was  attempted. 

In  1833,  charges  were  tabled,  before  the  Presbytery  of 
Illinois,  against  the  Rev.  Edward  Beecher,  President,  and 
the  Rev.  J.  M.  Sturdevant  and  the  Rev.  William  Kirby,  Pro- 
fessors of  Illinois  College.  They  made  a  statement  of  their 
faith,  of  which  the  Presbytery  decided  that  it  exhibited 
nothing  ''materially  or  essentially  at  variance  with  the 
standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  The  prosecutor, 
the  Rev.  Wm.  J.  Fraser,  took  an  appeal  to  Synod,  but  "was 
induced  to  drop  it,  in  the  expectation  that  the  other  cases 
then  pending  would  lead  to  a  settlement  by  the  Assembly, 
of  the  questions  involved." 

After  some  previous  unsuccessful  attempts  to  institute 
proceedings  against  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  at  the  time  Presi- 
dent of  Lane  Seminary,  Dr.  J.  L.  Wilson  had,  in  1834,  ar- 
raigned him  before  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati.  Not 
only  was  he  acquitted,  but  the  Presbytery  manifested  a 
disposition  to  inflict  censure  upon  the  prosecutor.  The 
Synod,  however,  upon  appeal,  decided  that  there  was  no 
reason  for  such  censure,  and  that,  while  Dr.  Beecher's 
present  explanations  of  his  views  were  satisfactory,  he  had 
before  given  valid  reason  for  suspicion  of  his  unsoundness 
in  the  faith  ;  and  he  was  admonished  to  be  more  guarded  in 
future.  In  this  judgment  he  acquiesced,  and,  being  ad- 
vised by  Synod  to  publish,  in  a  concise  form,  the  substance 
of  his  previous  explanations,  he  issued  a  duodecimo  volume 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  pages,  entitled  "  Views  in  The- 
ology?" so  orthodox,  that  the  worst  his  accusers  could 
thereafter  say  was,  that  it  was  passing  strange  that  the 
same  man  should  be  the  father  of  this,  and  of  some  of  the 
previous  theological  progeny  of  his  brain,  the  two  were  so 
marvellously  dissimilar.^  Dr.  Wilson  appealed,  but  in  the 
Assembly  of  1836,  agreed  to  drop  his  appeal,  as  the  deci- 
sion in  Mr.  Barnes's  case  would  settle  the  questions  at  issue. 

'  See  Baird's  Hist,  of  New  School,  Chap.  xxx. 


1836.]         MR.  BARNES    IN   THE    ASSExMBLY  OF    1836.  285 

When  this  matter  was  in  negotiation,  "Dr.  Miller,"  said 
Dr.  Beecher,  "in  high  glee,  hoped  I  would  not  object."^ 
Such  word-painting  must  be  taken  with  some  allowance. 
A  desire  to  reduce  the  strife  within  as  narrow  limits  as 
possible,  was  no  evidence  of  satisfaction  with  any  one's  the- 
ological views  or  course  of  conduct. 

With  great  expectation  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes  came  be- 
fore the  assembly  of  1836.  #To  that  Assembly,  again,  Dr. 
Miller  was  a  Commissioner.  Pittsburgh  had  been  avowedly 
chosen  as  the  place  of  meeting,  that  the  agitation  which  this 
case  had  produced  in  Philadelphia  might  be  avoided.  The 
New  School  now  proved  to  have  a  decisive  majority.  The 
only  question  that  could  regularly  have  come  before  the 
supreme  judicatory,  without  consent  of  parties,  was,  whether 
the  Synod  had  rightly  proceeded  to  hear  the  appeal  in  the 
absence  of  the  Presbytery's  record.  But  this  may  not  have 
been  discerned,  and  there  was,  apparently,  a  tacit  acquies- 
cence of  all  interested  in  the  Assembly's  disposing  of  the 
whole  case. 

Mr.  Barnes,  now,  made  such  explanations  of  previous 
statements,  that  if  his  retractions,  as  they  were  considered, 
could  have  been  put  in  a  distinct  form,  Dr.  Junkin'  would 
have  yielded.  True,  the  Notes  on  Romans,  quite  unsatis- 
factory, as  they  were,  even  after  the  author's  emendations 
in  1835,  were  in  a  permanent  shape,  and  were  becoming 
widely  circulated.  But  so  painful  had  the  controversy 
grown,  that  any  escape  from  it,  consistent  with  truth  and 
righteousness,  would  have  been  gladly  hailed  on  all  sides. 
Mr.  Barnes,  hoAvever,  stoutly  insisted  that  he  had  not  re- 
tracted, and  never  would  retract,  anything,  and  the  trial 
proceeded. 

This  case  furnished  a  forcible  illustration  of  the  imper- 
fections, not  at  all  of  the  great  principles  of  Presbyterian 
church  government  and  discipline,  but  of  the  ordinary 
forms  of  proceeding  in  our  church  courts,  and  of  the  very 
constitution  of  those  courts,  so  far  as  judicial  business  is 
concerned.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  many  ministers, 
or  ruling  elders,  will  ever  acquire  much  skill  in  the  manage- 
ment of  such  business.  They  may,  in  general,  be  quite 
competent  to  decide,  righteously,  upon  most  points  put  with 
distinctness  and  clearness  before  them  ;  but  very  few  minds 

1  2  Autobiography,  360. 


286  TRIUMPH    AND   DEFEAT.  [CH.  82.  5. 

are  fitted  to  distinguish,  nicely,  questions  of  law  and  ques- 
tions of  fact,  questions  of  form  and  questions  of  substance, 
questions  of  technical,  and  questions  of  moral,  right ;  so 
as  to  simplify  what  is  complex,  and  discern  just  what  calls 
for  decision.  Unfortunately,  our  plan  does  not  allow,  as 
without  any  abandonment  of  principle  it  might,  of  com- 
mittino-  judicial  matters  to  the  few  who  have  made  them  a 
special  study ;  therefore  for  such  study  there  is  small  en- 
couragement ;  and  our  rules  of  proceeding  afford  little  op- 
portunity for  disentangling  perplexed  cases,  until  they  are 
thrown  before  a  loosely  compacted  crowd  of  unpractised 
judges.  Judicial  committees  might  do  much  more,  to  pre- 
pare cases  for  trial,  than  they  usually  attempt ;  but  they 
do  not  always  include  the  best  juridical  culture  of  the  body, 
and  they  are  hampered  by  the  rules  to  which  their  recom- 
mendations must  be  conformed.  No  doubt,  the  compromises, 
and  even  irregular  expedients,  by  which  the  burden  of  ju- 
dicial business  is  so  often  thrown  off,  are  due  chiefly  to  its 
being  felt,  if  not  discerned  and  acknowledged,  that  compli- 
cated and  perplexed  cases  are  never  likely  to  reach  a  satis- 
factory issue  by  the  way  which  the  Book  marks  out. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Barnes,  if  the  whole  controversy  was 
to  come,  as  it  did,  before  the  Assembly,  presented  a  num- 
ber of  distinct  points.  Was  the  Synod  right  in  proceeding 
to  trial  without  the  record?  Were  any  of  the  errors 
charged  real  errors,  and  errors  sufficiently  grave  to  justify 
discipline  ?  If  they  were,  were  they  actually  taught  in  the 
Notes  on  Romans  ?  Were  they  all  thus  real ;  all  of  such 
sufficient  gravity  ;  all  so  taught  ?  If  the  proceedings  and 
finding  of  Synod  were  right,  was  not  the  sentence  too 
severe?  Now,  these  questions,  every  one,  without  clear 
distinction  or  separation,  were  precipitated  upon  the  As- 
sembly. What  if  one  third  of  the  judges  were  prepared 
to  sustain  the  appeal  on  the  ground  only  of  the  record's 
absence ;  another  third,  on  the  ground  only  of  the  rigor  of 
the  sentence  ;  and  all  the  rest,  on  some  other  ground  alone? 
The  vote  being  taken,  as  it  was,  by  the  simple  alternative, 
'Sustained',  or 'Not  sustained',  there  might  have  been  a 
unanimous  decision  to  sustain  the  appeal,  although  two 
thirds  of  the  body  were  opposed  to  that  decision  on  every 
particular  point.  Sometimes  the  responses  are,  '  Sustained', 


1836.]      MR.  BARNES    IN   THE    ASSEMBLY   OF    1836.  287 

'Sustained  in  part',  'Not  sustained';  if  a  majority  of  all 
vote  'Sustained',  that  ends  the  matter;  but  if  those  who 
vote  'Sustained  in  part'  are  a  majority,  or  are  needed  to 
make  a  majority  with  those  who  vote  '  Sustained',  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  appoint  a  committee  to  draw,  if  possible,  a  mi- 
nute satisfactory  to  that  majority — a  most  difficult  matter, 
it  is  obvious,  and  sometimes  an  impossibility. 

But,  in  the  case  before  us,  with  singular  maladroitness, 
the  leaders  of  the  Old  School  party  expressly  agreed  that 
all  should  vote  simply  'Sustained'  or  'Not  sustained', 
knowing  that  the  condemnation  of  the  Synod  on  the  grounds, 
at  least,  of  the  absence  of  the  record,  and  the  severity  of 
the  sentence,  was  certain  ;  and  proposing  to  bring  in  a 
minute  afterwards,  as  a  part  of  the  judgment,  censuring 
Mr.  Barnes  for  the  errors  of  his  book.  True,  no  skill  of 
management  would  have  varied  materially  the  result.  The 
appeal  was  '  Sustained'  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  to  ninety-six.  Then,  by  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
to  seventy-eight,  the  decision  of  Synod,  suspending  Mr. 
Barnes,  was  reversed.  At  once.  Dr.  Miller  offered  a  reso- 
lution^ condemning  him  for  his  Notes  on  Romans.  But 
what  ?  After  his  appeal  has  been,  without  exception,  tri- 
umphantly sustained;  after  he  has  been  acquitted  in  the 
only  trial  had ;  shall  he,  without  any  further  trial,  be  con- 
demned ?  The  wonder  is,  not  that  the  resolution  failed, 
but  that  a  hundred  and  nine  votes — ao;ainst  a  hundred 
and  twenty-two — could  be  secured  in  its  favor.     No  doubt, 

1  Resolved,  that  while  this  General  Assembly  has  thought  proper  to  remove 
the  sentence  of  suspension  under  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes  was  placed  by 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia;  yet  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  is,  that  Mr. 
Barnes,  in  his  notes  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  has  published  opinions 
materially  at  var.ance  with  the  Confession  of  faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  with  the  word  of  God;  especially  with  regard  to  original  sin,  the  relation 
of  man  to  Adam,  and  justification  by  faith  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  and  right- 
eousness of  the  Redeemer.  The  Assembly  consider  the  manner  in  which  Mr. 
Barnes  has  controverted  the  language  and  doctrine  of  our  public  standards,  as 
highly  reprehensible,  and  as  adapted  to  pervert  the  minds  of  the  rising  gene- 
ration from  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  gospel  plan.  And  although  some 
of  the  most  objectionable  statements  and  expressions  which  appeared  in  the 
earlier  editions  of  the  work  in  question,  have  been  either  removed,  or  so  far 
modified  or  explained,  as  to  render  them  more  in  accordance  with  our  public 
formularies  ;  still  the  Assembly  considers  the  work,  even  in  its  present  amended 
form,  as  containing  representations  which  cannot  be  reconciled  witl:  the  letter 
or  spirit  of  our  public  standards;  and  would  solemnly  admonish  Mr.  Barnes 
again  to  review  this  work  ;  to  modify  still  further  the  statements  which  have 
grieved  his  brethren ;  and  to  be  more  careful,  in  time  to  come,  to  study  the 
purity  and  peace  of  the  Church."' 


288  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  6. 

Dr.  Miller's  idea  was,  that  the  vote  had  been  taken,  with  a 
tacit  understanding  that  some  voters,  by  ^  Sustained',  meant 
only  '  Sustained  in  part' ;  no  doubt  he  regarded  his  motion 
as  simply  the  conclusion  of  an  otherwise  incomplete  deci- 
sion ;  but  certainly  the  New  School  members  had  laid  them- 
selves under  no  obligation  to  so  regard  it. 

Two  protests  were  presented,  both  signed  by  Dr.  Miller 
among  others,  and  expressing  dissent,  especially,  from  the 
refusal  to  condemn  Mr.  Barnes's  theological  errors.  The 
answer  to  these  protests,  which  seems  to  have  been  unani- 
mously approved  by  the  New  School  members,  is  a  strange 
document,  as  a  profession  of  orthodoxy,  considering  its  ori- 
gin, and  as  a  defence  of  Mr.  Barnes  which  he  would  hardly 
have  ventured  himself  to  indorse.  For  example,  in  his 
Notes  on  Romans,  the  latter  had  expressly  denied  that 
Adam  was  the  covenant  or  federal  head,  or  representative 
of  the  race.^  The  answer  to  the  protest,  however,  declared 
that  he  had  not  denied  it,  but,  without  using  the  terms 
mentioned,  had,  in  other  language,  taught  the  very  same 
truths  taught  by  these  terms. 

6.  Boards  and  Presbyteries. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  had,  in 
the  plenitude  of  its  power,  concluded  a  contract  with  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  for  the  transfer  of  its 
whole  establishment  to  the  General  Assembly.  This  they 
reported,  and  a  board  or  other  agency  alone  was  wanting  to 
receive  the  transfer.  The  subject  came  before  the  Assem- 
bly in  a  majority  and  a  minority  report  from  the  commit- 
tee of  reference;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  minority,  the  ratification  of  the  contract  was  re- 
fused by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred  and 
six. 

In  reviewing  this  act  of  the  Assembly,  it  is  manifest  that  it 
had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  final  defeat  of  the  New  School 
party  a  twelvemonth  afterward.  Their  so-called  violation 
of  a  contract,  added  to  the  refusal  to  organize  a  Foreign 
Missionary  Board,  was  very  odious.  It  was,  however,  it 
may  be,  more  of  a  blunder  than  of  a  wrong.  The  New 
School  had  a  technical  right  certainly,  to  refuse  to  let  the 

*  See  previous  page  274,  Note. 


1836.]  BOARDS   AND    PRESBYTERIES.  289 

Assembly  engage  in  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions :  so 
long  as  they  had  a  majority,  the  opposite  party  could  not 
compel  them  to  enter,  ecclesiastically,  upon  that  work. 
Entirely  resolved  not  to  enter  upon  it,  should  they  have 
fulfilled  the  contract  with  the  Western  Society,  only  to  re- 
ceive its  missions,  and  then  let  them  perish,  or  pass  into 
the  hands  of  the  American  Board  ?  Considering  their  ab- 
solute determination  that  the  latter  should  have  no  rival, 
they,  perhaps,  did  what  was  best,  though  it  had  a  bad  ap- 
pearance. Besides,  was  the  Old  School  majority  of  the 
previous  year — an  accident,  as  they  might  well  esteem  it, 
after  ruling  in  every  Assembly,  except  that  of  1835,  be- 
ginning in  1831 — was  it  to  bind  the  Church  forever  ?  Had 
they  been  right,  which  they  were  not,  in  their  opposition  to 
the  Church's  conducting  foreign  missions  by  agencies  of  its 
own,  it  would  be  hardly  fair  to  censure  them  for  their  ac- 
tion in  1836.  Dr.  Miller  was,  of  course,  in  the  minority  on 
this  question,  and  united  with  them  in  a  solemn  protest 
against  the  act. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  took  a  part  in 
the  struggle  just  mentioned  which  seriously  impaired  its 
popularity  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  To  influence  the 
decision  of  the  Assembly,  Dr.  Anderson,  one  of  the  Secre- 
taries of  the  Board,  issued  a  pamphlet,  arguing  the  case, 
beforehand,  against  the  Old  School — no  doubt  a  most  un- 
wise and  indelicate  interference  with  the  business  of  the 
Church. 

The  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  rejected  by 
the  Assembly,  quietly  resumed,  in  accordance  with  the  ad- 
vice of  friends,  and  encouraged  by  promises  of  increased  ef- 
fort for  its  support,  its  missionary  operations. 

Emboldened  by  success,  and  not  content  with  what  they 
had  already  gained,  the  New  School  party  now  attempted 
once  more  the  ruin  of  the  Board  of  (Domestic)  Missions 
and  the  Board  of  Education,  and  failed  of  their  object  by 
only  a  few  votes.  The  attempt  was  made  substantially  as 
it  had  been,  in  regard  to  the  former  Board,  in  1831 — by 
endeavoring  to  elect  members  avowedly  hostile  to  the  very 
object  of  their  appointment — the  very  interests  committed 
to  their  hands. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  had,  in  1835,  agreeably  to 


290  TRIUMPH   AND    DEFEAT.  [CH.  32.  6. 

the  express  permission  of  the  Assembly,  concurred  in  by 
the  whole  New  School  party,  dissolved  the  elective  affinity, 
or  Assembly's,  Second  Presbytery,  and,  for  gross,  and 
otherwise  irremediable  irregularities,  that  also  of  Wilming- 
ton. Both  Presbyteries,  however,  had  appealed,  and,  of 
course,  the  appeal  stayed  their  dissolution.  The  Assembly 
now  reversed  the  action  of  the  Synod,  and  continued  both 
these  inferior  judicatories  in  being,  only  giving  the  Second 
Presbytery  geographical  bounds,  and  changing,  in  its  title, 
Second  to  Third. 

Says  Dr.  Baird,  "  During  the  exciting  and  anxious  sessions 
of  this  Assembly,  the  Old  School  members  held  one  or  two 
meetings  for  consultation,  in  the  Second  Church.  They  were 
convened  by  public  announcement,  by  the  moderator,  in  the 
Assembly,  inviting  the  presence  of  those  who  voted  with  the 
minority  on  Dr.  Miller's  resolution  in  Barnes'  case.  Before 
the  business  of  the  conference  had  commenced,  the  youthful 
pastor  of  the  church,  without  consultation,  announced  that  any 
who  did  not  sympathize  with  the  objects  of  the  meeting,  were 
requested  to  retire.  This  suggestion  was  at  once  repudiated,  by 
a  general  cry  of  "  No !  no !"  Dr.  Miller  emphatically  stating 
that  they  had  nothing  to  conceal,  and  no  wish  that  any  one  should 
retire.  This  suggestion,  which  was  thus,  at  once,  repudiated  by 
acclamation,  was  made  the  occcasion  of  much  invidious  remark 
among  the  New  School  members  of  the  Assembly,  as  to  secret 
conclaves  and  conspiracies. 

"  At  the  very  time  that  the  Old  School  were  thus  stigmatized, 
the  other  party  were  holding  meetings  in  the  basement  of  the 
Third  Church,  which  convened  without  public  notice,  and  from 
which  the  public  were  actually  excluded.  Here,  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Boards  was  discussed ;  and  here  the  question 
was  anxiously  considered  whether  the  Seminary  at  Princeton 
should  not  be  remodeled.  But  the  conclusion  was,  that  the 
Church  was  not  yet  ripe  for  a  step  so  decisive."^ 

It  is  never  wise  to  hold  ''  secret  conclaves"  without  good 
reason  ;  and,  probably,  the  position  of  the  Old  School  mem- 
bers, in  this  particular  case,  dictated  entire  publicity  as 
most  politic;  yet  it  is  a  right  of  contending  parties,  in  both 
church  and  state,  to  meet  separately,  and  without  witnesses, 
to  form  and  digest  their  plans  of  action.  To  condemn  such 
meetings,  or  attach  odium  to  them,  is  but  a  desperate  party 
expedient. 

iBaird's  Uist.  of  New  School,  502,  3. 


1836.]         BOARDS  AND  PRESBYTERIES.  291 

While  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Barnes  was  under  discussion, 
Dr.  Miller  moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  thirty 
on  the  slate  of  the  Church.  The  motion  was  carried,  and 
the  committee  appointed,  with  the  mover  as  chairman;  but 
they  could  not  agree  upon  any  report,  and  just  before  the 
close  of  the  sessions  were  discharged. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  1836,  so  far  as  Dr. 
Miller  was  directly  concerned  with  them,  must  occupy, 
under  another  head,  a  little  further  attention;  but  the  fol- 
lowing extract  from  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Miller's,  dated  the  8th 
of  July,  may,  just  at  this  point,  illustrate  the  effect  upon 
him  of  the  exciting,  agitating  scenes,  connected  with  the 
New  School  controversy,  which  have  already,  though  inade- 
quately, been  exhibited. 

'We  had  gone  only  a  day's  journey  from  Wheeling,  when 
[Dr.  Miller]  was  arrested  at  Unioutown  by  sickness,  the  con- 
sequence, I  have  no  doubt,  of  his  confinement  and  application 
to  business,  at  Pittsburgh ;  and  we  were  detained  there  nearly 
nine  days :  for,  although  only  about  half  that  time  was  neces- 
sary for  his  recruiting,  the  difficulty  of  recovering  our  seats  in 
the  stage,  owing  to  the  press  of  emigration  from  the  AYest,  and 
the  impossibility  of  procuring  any  private  conveyance,  made 
us  truly  prisoners,  although  I  trust  in  mercy  for  a  more  perfect 
rest.  I  can  not  say  that  I  was  wholly  patient  under  this  inflic- 
tion. We  sometimes  thought  that  we  should  have  to  return  to 
Pittsburgh,  which  we  could  have  reached  by  a  short  way  of 
thirty  miles,  and  afterwards  get  into  the  canal  boat;  but  at 
length  a  private  carriage  offered,  and  took  us  in  two  days  to 
Cumberland,  whence  we  found  no  difficulty  in  returning.  We 
have  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  all  our  family  well.' 


CHAPTER    THIRTY-THIRD. 

SOCIAL     REFORM. 

1836. 


1.   Slavery. 

The  committee,  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
1835,  to  report  upon  Slavery/  consisted  of  Dr.  Miller  as 
chairman,  with  Dr.  Beman,  Dr.  Hoge,  Mr.  Dickey  and 
Mr.  Witherspoon.  They,  probably,  never  met,  unless  dur- 
ing the  sessions  of  the  Assembly;  but  Dr.  Miller,  by  cor- 
respondence with  one  or  more — perhaps  all — of  them,  ob- 
tained their  views  on  the  subject,  and  then  drew  the  fol- 
lowing paper,  which  he  afterwards,  by  mail,  submitted  to, 
perhaps,  the  whole  committee. 

'The  Committee  to  whom  were  referred,  by  the  last  General 
Assembly,  sundry  memorials  and  other  papers,  touching  the 
subject  of  Slavery,  w^ith  directions  to  report  thereon  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  1836,  beg  leave  to  report, — 

'That,  after  the  most  mature  deliberation  which  they  have 
been  able  to  bestow  on  the  interesting  and  important  subject 
referred  to  them,  they  would  most  respectfully  recommend  to 
the  General  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions;  viz. — 

'This  General  Assembly  regards  domestic  slavery  as  one  of 
those  subjects  which  bear  complicated  and  extensive  relations  to 
the  political  regulations  and  interests  of  the  community ;  to  the 
purity  and  happiness  of  domestic  society ;  and  to  the  edification 
of  the  Church  of  God.  In  respect  to  the  political  laws  and 
arrangements  which  exist,  in  different  States  of  our  Union, 
on  this  subject,  an  Ecclesiastical  judicatory  cannot  with  pro- 
priety interfere.  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  It  is 
manifest  that  the  great  Founder  of  our  Religion,  and  his  in- 
spired Apostles,  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel  of  his  grace  to  Jews 

1  See  p.  266. 
292 


1836.]  SLAVERY.  293 

and  Gentiles,  among  whom  domestic  slavery  was  established  by- 
law, did  not  denounce  it  as  one  of  those  evils  which  He  required 
to  be  immediately  abolished ;  but  chose  rather  to  enjoin  upon 
masters  and  slaves  those  duties  which  are  required  of  them 
respectively  by  their  Master  in  heaven;  and  to  inculcate  those 
benevolent  and  holy  principles,  which  have  a  direct  tendency 
to  mitigate  the  evils  of  Slavery,  while  it  lasts,  and  to  bring  it 
to  a  termination  in  the  most  speedy,  safe  and  happy  manner  for 
both  parties.  Their  example,  in  this  respect,  this  General 
Assembly  considers  as  not  only  worthy  of  our  imitation,  but  as 
expressly  intended  for  our  guidance  under  similar  circum- 
stances. 

'  This  General  Assembly  is  further  persuaded,  not  only  that 
all  interference,  on  our  part,  with  the  laws  of  any  of  the  States 
in  which  persons  in  communion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church 
reside,  is  unscriptural  and  improper;  but  the  Assembly  cannot 
doubt  that,  in  accordance  with  the  testimony  of  all  sober- 
minded,  reflecting  men,  either  resident  in  the  slave-holding  States 
or  extensively  travelling  through  them,  that  every  attempt  on 
the  part  of  ecclesiastical  judicatories  to  legislate  on  the  subject, 
tends  to  create  morbid  excitement;  to  engender  feelings  alto- 
gether adverse  to  the  mild  and  benevolent  spirit  of  the  Gospel ; 
to  render  the  condition  of  the  slaves  worse  instead  of  better ;  to 
check  the  disposition  to  seek  their  intellectual  and  moral  im- 
provement; and  to  impair  the  opportunity  and  ability  of  the 
pious  in  the  slave-holding  States,  to  impart  to  them  suitable 
religious  instruction. 

'  On  the  whole,  as  the  Assembly  believes  that  the  most  safe 
and  effectual  remedy  for  the  evil  in  question  will  be  found  in 
the  benign  power  of  Christian  principle,  operating  upon  and 
forming  public  sentiment,  and  thus  preparing  both  the  master 
and  the  slave  for  the  consummation  desired;  so  it  is  convinced 
that  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  leave  the  whole  subject,  so  far  as 
political  enactments  are  concerned,  to  be  disposed  of  by  the 
States  in  which  slavery  exists ; — and,  so  far  as  moral  and  spirit- 
ual duties,  towards  slaves  within  our  bounds,  are  concerned,  to 
commit  those  duties  to  the  synods,  presbyteries,  and  church  ses- 
sions within  the  slave-holding  States; — most  of  which  have  man- 
ifested a  laudable  desire  to  promote  the  temporal  and  eternal 
welfare  of  the  slaves  within  their  bounds,  though  their  eftbrts 
in  this  interesting  department  of  Christian  benevolence,  the 
Assembly  laments  to  say,  have  been  weakened,  and,  in  some 
cases,  totally  frustrated,  by  measures  adopted  by  pious  and 
well-meaning  persons  in  the  free  States.  On  these  accounts  the 
Assembly  believes  that  much  action  on  this  interesting  subject, 


294  SOCIAL    REFORM.  [CH.  33.  1. 

by  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  com- 
posed as  itis  of  delegates  from  most  of  the  States  in  the  Union, 
is  adapted  to  inflame  and  divide,  rather  than  to  promote  har- 
mony and  love.  It  is  persuaded  that  every  thing  which  Chris- 
tian principle  requires  the  Church  to  do,  can  be  more  safely  and 
usefully  done  by  judicatories  within  those  districts  in  which  the 
evil  in  question  exists  in  its  greatest  force.  These  can  act  on 
the  subject  with  less  excitement  of  jealousy,  as  well  as  with  more 
knowledge  of  it,  and  with  more  probability  of  success. 

'  On  a  careful  review,  therefore,  of  the  foregoing  principles, 
this  Assembly  adopts,  and  recommends  to  the  serious  attention 
of  all  in  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  follow- 
ing Eesolutions ;  viz. — 

'1.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  in  our 
communion  in  the  United  States  to  pray  without  ceasing,  that 
He  who  sits  as  Governor  among  the  Nations,  and  who  has  the 
hearts  of  all  men  in  his  hands,  would  be  pleased  to  terminate, 
as  speedily  as  may  be,  consistently  with  the  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual welfare  of  the  slaves  themselves,  as  well  as  of  the  white 
population  around  them,  the  lamentable  evil  under  considera- 
tion ;  an  evil  from  which,  however  certain  questions  concerning 
it  may  be  decided,  all  grant  it  would  be  happy  for  our  country 
to  be  forever  delivered. 

*  2.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  persons 
in  our  communion,  who  reside  in  States  in  which  slavery  exists, 
and  especially  those  who  hold  slaves,  carefully  to  examine  the 
principles  of  God's  Holy  Word  in  reference  to  the  duties  of 
masters,  and  conscientiously  to  regulate  their  conduct  by  those 
principles;  doing  the  things  which  are  just  and  equal,  and  ex- 
ercising the  gentleness  and  benevolence  of  the  Gospel  toward 
their  servants ;  remembering  that  they  have  a  Master  in  heaven, 
with  whom  there  is  no  respect  of  persons. 

*3.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  enjoined  on  all  the  Church 
Sessions  and  Presbyteries  in  the  slave-holding  districts  of  our 
country,  carefully  to  guard  their  members  against  all  violations 
of  Christian  principle  or  practice  in  relation  to  slaves ;  and 
firmly  to  exercise  on  this,  as  well  as  every  other  subject,  that 
ecclesiastical  discipline  which  Christ  hath  ordained  for  edifica- 
tion, and  not  for  destruction. 

*4.  Resolved,  That  the  Resolutions  of  the  Synod  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  in  1786,  and  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1816,  respecting  the  baptism  of  infant 
slaves,  on  the  profession  of  their  masters  or  mistresses,  be,  and 
they  hereby  are,  approved  by  this  Assembly,  and  again  recom- 
mended to  the  attention  of  all  whom  they  may  concern. 


1836.]  SLAVERY.  295 

'  5.  Resolved,  That  the  religious  instruction  of  slaves  by  means 
of  infant  schools,  catechetical  and  Bible  classes,  special  ad- 
dresses, and  other  methods  of  imparting  knowledge  (not  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  the  several  States)  so  happily  and  extensively 
commenced  in  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  portions  of  our 
Church,  meets  the  cordial  approbation  of  this  Assembly,  and  is 
earnestly  recommended  to  the  attention  of  all  masters  and  pub- 
lic teachers  in  our  communion. 

*6.  Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly, 
all  harsh  censures,  and  uncharitable  reflections  ought  to  be  for- 
borne toward  those  brethren  of  our  communion  who  reside 
among  and  possess  slaves,  whom  they  cannot,  consistently  with 
the  laws  of  their  respective  States,  immediately  emancipate;  but 
who,  at  the  same  time,  are  really  using  all  their  influence  and 
endeavors  to  eflfect  this  object,  as  soon  as  the  way  for  it  can  be 
lawfully  and  safely  prepared. 

'  7.  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  does  cordially  ap- 
prove of  the  principles  and  object  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  as  an  institution  of  enlightened  benevolence;  pacific 
and  salutary  in  its  operation;  opening  a  door  for  the  manumis- 
sion of  slaves  in  a  manner  opposed  to  no  law  of  either  God  or 
man;  and  likely,  under  the  divine  blessing,  not  merely  to 
establish  a  Christian  community  in  Africa ;  but,  through  that 
community,  to  extend  the  blessings  of  civilization  and  Chris- 
tianity over  a  great  part  of  that  benighted  continent. 

*  8.  Resolved,  finally.  That,  as  the  notes  wdiich  have  been  ex- 
punged from  our  Public  Formularies,  and  which  some  of  the 
memorials  referred  to  the  Committee  ask  to  be  restored,  never 
were  adopted  in  any  way  by  the  Church,  and,  therefore,  pos- 
sessed no  authority ;  the  General  Assembly  has  no  power  to  as- 
sign them  a  place  in  the  authorized  standards  of  the  Church. — ' 

The  Rev.  John  Witherspoon,  of  Camden,  South  Caro- 
lina, the  only  Southern  man  on  the  committee,  wrote  in  a 
conciliatory  excellent  spirit.     He  said, 

'Abolition  or  emancipation,  immediately  or  in  prospect,  by 
legislative  enactment,  is  not  to  be  looked  for  from  the  South. 
The  freedom  of  the  blacks  would  be  a  curse  to  them  and  to  the 
whites  also.  Our  Union  must  be  severed  first.  You  ask,  what 
then?  Is  slavery  to  be  perpetual?  No,  my  dear  Brother; 
God  forbid  that  it  should  be:  nay,  it  cannot  be.  Yet  let  us  re- 
member the  expression  of  the  poet — "  Tanta)  molis  erat  Roraa- 
nam  condere  gentem." 

Our  own  beloved  country  ^re?(;  by  inches.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  years  hence,  the  sun  will  look  down  on  our  land,  without 


296  SOCIAL   KEFORM.  [CH.  33.  1. 

beholding  one  dark  skinned  slave.  It  will  rise  on  Africa  "re- 
deemed and  disenthralled  by  the  Genius  of  universal  emanci- 
pation." And  what,  you  ask,  will  accomplish  this  ?  I  reply, 
the  march  of  public  sentiment,  interest,  benevolence  properly 
exercised,  piety,  charity — that  which  "  seeketh  not  her  own." 
My  Brother,  the  cause  was  progressing  faster  far  than  the  ori- 
ginal settlement  of  our  beloved  country  ever  did,  until  the 
Abolitionist,  in  his  new-light,  ignorant  folly,  and  spurious,  furi- 
ous charity,  set  his  unhallowed  foot  upon  the  wheel  of  the 
Colonization  Society,  and  retarded  its  progress  for  years  to  come.' 

As  to  Dr.  Miller's  report,  it  proved  too  weak  for  the 
Abolitionists,  too  strong  for  the  South  ;  for  some,  too  likely 
to  make  trouble,  and  for  others,  too  unlikely  to  make  it. 
Mr.  Witherspoon  said, 

'  With  the  proposed  report,  I  am,  in  the  main,  well  pleased. 
And  yet  it  is  such  an  one  as,  I  am  well  convinced,  the  Aboli- 
tion party  in  our  church  would  not  accept ;  and  still  it  goes 
too  far  for  our  Southern  latitude.  I  am  firmly  persuaded,  that 
any  Southern  minister  who  would  advocate  it,  or  vote  for  it, 
or  act  under  its  provisions,  would  be  compelled  to  leave  the 
South.  With  the  j^reamble  I  am  well  pleased,  and  would  leave 
the  matter  there.     '''     * 

'You  have  handled  the  subject  in  the  most  mild  and  judi- 
cious manner  possible. 

'The  first  resolution  we  Southern  ministers  could  not  comply 
with  in  the  language  or  spirit  of  the  resolution.  There  are 
those  amongst  us  who  think  slavery  7io  evil.  The  Methodist 
Conference,  which  lately  met  in  Charleston,  thus  decided  (if  I 
have  been  correctly  informed,  by  a  unanimous  vote.     *     * 

'Fifth,  very  well.  Sixth  will  not  do  at  all — at  all.  Seventh 
and  Eighth  will  answer. 

'But,  my  dear  Sir,  my  candid  opinion  is,  that  no  report 
which  we.  can  make,  based  on  a  desire  of  compromise,  will  an- 
swer. *  *  Since  I  last  communicated  with  you,  the  spirit  of 
hostility  to  any  action  by  the  Assembly  on  this  subject  has 
greatly  increased.  *  *  it  will  require  great  wisdom  and 
prudence  to  prevent  a  division  of  our  beloved  Zion — an  event 
no  one  would  more  deeply  deplore  than  you  and  I.' 

Dr.  Hoge,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  said, 

'  I  have  been  strongly  inclined  to  the  opinion,  that  it  would 
be  best  to  make  no  report,  or  to  report  only  a  single  resolution, 
preceded  and  introduced  by  a  preamble  similar  to  yours,  pro- 
posing the  dismissal  of  the  subject  from  the  General  Assembly, 
and  recommending  it  to  the  serious  and  thorough  examination 


1836.]  SLAVERY.  29,7 

of  all  the  judicatories  which  are  located  in  the  Slave  States.  ^ 

*  I  am  horribly  afraid  of  the  discussion  of  this  matter  in  the 
next  Assembly,  *  '^  and  if  it  is  agitated  in  all  its  bearings, 
and  should  take  the  course  that  is  to  be  apprehended,  I  shall 
not  be  taken  by  surprise,  if  the  whole  Southern  delegation 
should,  in  pursuance  of  instruction,  rise  up  as  one  man,  and 
leave  the  Assembly,  and  that  finally.     *     * 

'  You  are,  no  doubt,  correct  in  supposing  that  you  cannot  hope 
to  obtain  Mr.  Dickey's   concurrence  in  anything  of  this  kind. 

*  *  I  am  confident  that  nothing  short  of^  a  "whole  hog" 
abolition  report  would  satisfy  him.'  7'^  Jv 

Finally,  a  few  diluted  drops  of  Dr.  Miller's  paper  were 
offered  to  the  Assembly,  which  could  not,  however,  swallow 
even  them.  The  Rev.  James  H.  Dickey  presented,  at  the 
same  time,  an  extended  minority  report,  of  a  decided  aboli- 
tion stamp.  Neither  paper  was  adopted,  but  a  short  reso- 
lution, offered  by  Dr.  Hoge,  postponing  the  subject,  indefi- 
nitely, for  lack  of  power  to  legislate  upon  it,  and  lack  of 
time  to  consider  it,  as  also  on  account  of  other  pressing 
business.  iiiidi^jvo  ,iu'«iiioiji.i.ouii  u'i'jij  inii, l 

Whether  the  Presbyterian  tl)hui^ch,''at'the  time  ri6w  imder 
review,  was  doing  its  duty  in  regard  to  slavery,  recent 
events  have  certainly  inclined  multitudes  of  even  conserva- 
tive men  to  doubt.  The  General  Assembly  was,  beyond 
all  question,  right,  in  declining  to  treat  slaveholding  as 
necessarily  a  sin,  and  to  insist,  contrary  to  Bible  teaching, 
that  it  disqualified  for  church-membership.  But  surely  it 
should  have  condemned,  with  constantly  renewed  emphasis, 
the  doctrine  that  Slavery  was  a  divine  institution,  to  be 
carefully  conserved ;  and  all  acquiescence  in  the  prohibition 
of  slaves'  being  taught  to  read  the  Bible,  being  elevated  by 
intellectual  culture,  or  being  emancipated  without  banish- 
ment. True,  reading  is  not  necessary  to  salvation  ;  but  the 
Presbyterian  Church  has  ever  consistently  held,  except  in 
this  one  case  of  Slavery,  that  ignorance  is  not  the  mother 
of  devotion ;  that  learning  is  a  help  to  religion — an  impor- 
tant aid  in  seekino;  Christ.  Had  Southern  legislatures 
enacted,  that  the  right  arm  of  every  slave  should  be  kept 
perpetually  pinioned  to  the  body,  the  whole  Presbyterian 
Church  would  have  cried  out,  in  holy  indignation,  against 
the  cruel  outrage.  Was  putting  perpetual  fetters  upon  the 
mind,  then,  a  venial  sin,  or  not  a  sin  at  all?  Moreover, 
the  General  Assembly  should  have  carefully  scrutinized 
Vol.  II:— 25 


298  SOCIAL    REFORM.  [CH.  33.  1. 

the  treatment  of  slaves  by  their  masters,  and  endeavored  to 
secure  for  the  former  that  which  was  "just  and  equal." 
When  Sabbath  breaking,  intemperance,  profanity,  or  un- 
cleanness  prevailed  at  the  North,  did  the  Assembly  say, 
we  must  not  testify  against  such  sins;  we  must  leave  the 
matter,  wholly,  to  the  presbyteries  and  synods  most  infested 
by  these  evils  ?  Ah,  to  touch  slavery  would  cause  strife 
and  division  I  But  even  on  this  score,  the  way  of  duty 
was  safer  than  the  way  of  neglect.  Strife  and  division  were 
not  prevented  by  the  temporizing  course  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  And  now,  Slavery  has  been  abolished,  but, 
humanly  speaking,  in  the  worst  way — suddenly,  without  pre- 
paration, with  "  confused  noise  and  garments  rolled  in  blood  " 
— by  the  triumph  of  infidelity  rather  than  of  religion — by 
the  just  judgment  of  God.  In  this  great  revolutionary 
emancipation,  this  stupendous  overthrow  of  the  slave- 
power,  we  see,  indeed,  looking  to  heaven,  Jehovah's  mighty 
and  holy  arm;  but,  looking  to  earth,  the  influence  of  a 
fanatical  abolitionism,  overshadowing,  at  least,  the  efforts 
of  Christian  philanthropy.  God  has  permitted  infidelity 
and  state  policy  to  boast  themselves  against  his  Church,  as 
her  superiors  in  righteousness.  A  faithful  Church  might 
have  had  the  glory  of  a  peaceful,  happy  emancipation. 

In  this  connexion  may  be  most  intelligibly  inserted  a  let- 
ter from  Dr.  Miller  to  the  Rev.  Dyer  Burgess,  of  a  New 
School  presbytery  in  Ohio,  although  it  was  written  several 
years  afterwards — in  1843.  It  relates  to  the  notes — par- 
ticularly a  note  on  Slavery — referred  to  in  the  eighth  reso- 
lution of  Dr.  Miller's  paper  of  1836. 

<  t  *  J  have  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  having  met  you  a 
number  of  times  in  the  General  Assembly;  and,  although  we 
did  not  always  think  alike,  or  vote  alike,  in  that  body ;  yet  I 
have  no  recollection  of  any  conflicts  which  interfered  with 
l)rotherly  love,  or  which  forbade  the  belief  that  we  both  acted 
in  the  spirit  of  honest  conviction. 

*  I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  giving  you  my  candid 
opinion  as  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  Greek  word  used  to  ex- 
press man-stealinr/  in  1  Timothy  i.  10,  and  quoted,  with  an 
attempt  to  explain  it,  in  a  note  inserted  in  our  book  without  au- 
thority, and  afterwards,  by  the  Assembly  of  1816,  ordered  to 
l)e  expunged.^     I  wave,  with  yourself,  all   discussion  of  the 

1  The  note  in  question,  (Larger  Catechism,  Q.  142,)  commenting  upon  the 


1836.]  SLAVERY.  299 

point,  whether  the  note  referred  to  was  rightly  expunged ;  and 
shall  confine  myself  simply  to  the  question,  whether  it  correctly 
explains  the  Greek  word  to  which  you  refer.  I  have  the  note 
now  before  me,  and  have  considered  it  seriously,  and  with,  I 
hope,  some  degree  of  prayerful  impartiality.  I  am,  then,  per- 
fectly persuaded,  that  the  word,  a'^dpa-oottrra'.z^  is  not  rightlv 
explained  in  the  note  ordered  to  be  expunged.  The  word  oc- 
curs only  this  once  in  the  New  Testam,ent.  We  must,  there- 
fore, resort  to  uninspired  writers  for  its  ordinary  and  popular 
meaning.  And  I  am  entirely  confident,  that  a  careful  and 
enlightened  attention  to  the  use  of  the  word  by  the  best  classic 
Greek  writei-s  will  show  that  its  strict  and  appropriate  signifi- 
cation is,  seizing  or  capturing  prisoners  in  war,  for  the  purpose 
of  making  slaves  of  them,  or  selling  those,  so  taken,  into  sla- 
very ;  or  privately  stealing  or  kidnapping  human  beings,  and 
enslaving  them,  or  selling  them  as  slaves.  In  short,  my  j lodg- 
ment is,  that  this  word  always  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  fraud 
and  wu'ongful  force ;  and  is  never  applied,  by  any  good  Greek 
writer,  to  holding  in  servitude  human  beings  who  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  holders,  withouttheft,  fraud,  or  wrongful  force. 
Of  course,  I  am  of  the  opinion,  that  the  author  of  the  note  re- 
ferred to  misinterpreted  the  apostle's  meaning,  when  he  explained 
the  word  as  extending  to  those  who  merely  detained  slaves  in 
bondage,  or  sold  those  who  had  come  into  their  possession  by  in- 
heritance, or  in  any  way  by  no  violence  or  theft  of  their  own. 
This  is  my  deliberate  and  firm  opinion ;  in  which  I  doubt  not 
that  I  totally  disagree  with  you ;  but  I  have  quite  as  little 
doubt  that  I  am  sustained  by  the  best  authorities  in  Greek  lit- 
erature. 

'  I  have  now,  my  dear  Sir,  complied  with  your  request  in 
giving  you  my  judgment  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  word.  But 
permit  me  to  say,  without  offence,  that  on  the  subject  of  Sla- 
,very,  I  will  not  allow  myself  to  be  drawn  into  a  controversy. 
In  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  my  age,  and  in  an  office  which 
brings  with  it  incessant  and  almost  overwhelming  labors,  I 
must  decline,  most  respectfully,  any  further  correspondence  on 
this  subject. 

word  "  man-stealers/'  in  1  Timothy  i.  10,  said,  "  This  crime  among  the  Jews 
exposed  the  perpetrators  of  it  to  capital  punishment ;  Ex.  xxi.  16.  And  the 
apostle  here  classes  them  with  sinners  of  tlie  first  rank. — The  word  he  uses,  in 
its  original  import,  comprehends  all  who  are  concerned  in  bringing  any  of  the 
human  race  into  slaver}',  or  in  detaining  them  in  it.  Ifominuui  nirex,  qui  ser 
vos  vel/iberos  abdncnnt,  retiiieut,  vendnnt  vel  etitnut.  Stealers  of  men  are  all 
those,  Avho  bring  off  slaves,  and  keep,  sell,  or  buy  them. — To  steal  a  freeman, 
says  (xrotius,  is  the  highest  kind  of  theft.  In  other  instances  we  only  steal  hu- 
man property,  but  when  wc  steal  or  retain  men  in  slavery,  we  seize  those,  who, 
in  common  with  ourselves,  are  constituted,  Ity  the  original  grant,  lords  of  the 
earth.     Gen.  i.  28.      Vid.  Puli  ^'<^llo2■>9iu  in  Ivc." 


300  SOCIAL   REFORM.  [CH.  33.  1. 

'  I  have,  iiKleed,  often  declared,  that  I  adopted  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  ex  animo,  as  you  remark  that  you  once  heard  me 
say.  But  the  note  in  question  made  no  part  of  the  Confession, 
and  ought  never  to  have  been  in  the  book.  Of  course  no  in- 
consistency is  chargeable  here. 

'  You  are  pleased  to  mention  with  approval  an  extract  fro  m 
a  discourse  of  mine  published  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  and  in- 
cluded, among  many  short  pieces,  in  a  school-book.  A  large 
part  of  the  sentiments  delivered  in  that  discourse  I  still  approve 
and  cordially  adopt ;  but  I  acknowledge  that  it  contains  some 
things  which  I  could  not  now  conscientiously  write  or  speak.' 

In  the  foregoing  letter,  Dr.  Miller  refers,  doubtless,  to 
his  discourse  before  the  Manumission  Society,  in  1797, 
which  has  been  already  noticed.^  It  will  be  observed  that 
he  here  speaks  with  disapprobation,  not  of  the  school-book 
extract  which  Mr.  Burgess  had  mentioned,  and  which  re- 
ferred to  the  African  slave-trade  only,^  but  of  some  things 
in  the  discourse  at  large. 

Dr.  Miller's  opinions  respecting  slavery  have  already 
several  times  been  adverted  to  and  illustrated.  But 
greatly  as  he  disliked  the  institution,  he  did  not,  we  have 
seen,  consider  slaveholding  in  itself,  of  necessity,  a  sin; 
and  even  during  the  earlier  part  of  his  residence  in  New 
Jersey,  at  different  times,  held  several  slaves  under  the 
laws  providing  in  that  state  for  the  gradual  abolition  of 
human  bondage.  In  fact  he  held  them  only  for  a  term  of 
years,  in  a  sort  of  apprenticeship,  excepting  in  one  case,  in 
which  he  found  himself  deceived  by  the  vendor  as  to  the 
age  of  a  man-slave,  and  obliged,  by  law,  to  hold  him  and 
provide  for  him  for  life.  It  was  difficult  otherwise  to  se- 
cure domestics ;  but  this  experiment  of  slavery,  what  with 
some  that  ran  off,  one  that  he  could  not  get  rid  of,  and  the 
short-comings  of  all,  was  not  very  encouraging. 

2.  Temperance. 

Dr.   Miller  was   an   early  and  earnest  promoter  of  the 

Temperance  Reform.     At  first,  as  many  will  remember, 

the  disuse  of  ardent  spirits,  or  distilled  liquors,  alone,  was 

urged.     It  was  soon  discovered,  however,  that  the  princi- 

^  I  Vol.,  92-94. 

'^  Beginning  with  the  words,  "While  the  friends  of  humanity,  in  Europe 
and  America,  etc.,"  and  ending  with,  "  show  a  Christian  world  thou  canst  suf- 
fer and  forgive  I  "  p.  93. 


1836.]  TExMPERANCE.  301 

pie  of  total  abstinence  from  every  species  of  intoxicating 
drink  "was  the  only  safe  and  eifectual  remedy.  Both  the 
earlier  and  the  later  phase  of  this  reformation  found  in  him 
a  ready  and  zealous  advocate.  The  following  letter,  detail- 
ing a  part  of  his  own  experience,  was  widely  circulated 
soon  after  its  date.  A  Boston  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Observer,  communicated  it  to  that  paper,  saying, 
"Those  who  have  seen  the  writer  of  it,  of  late,  must  have 
remarked  his  ruddy  and  firm  appearance,  and  will  unite 
with  us  in  the  prayer  that  his  valuable  life  may  be  long 
preserved  to  the  church,  and  especially  to  the  seminary  of 
which  he  is  so  distinguished  an  ornament."  The  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Justin  Edwards,  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  American  Temperance  Society. 

'  Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  January  1,  1836. 

'Your  communication  of  November  17th,  reached  me 
on  the  25th,  and  would  have  been  acknowledged  before,  had 
not  engagements  of  the  most  urgent  kind  deprived  me  of  the 
requisite  leisure.  It  gives  me  peculiar  pleasure  to  comply  with 
your  request,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks, 
because  I  verily  believe  that  the  well-being  of  society,  and 
especially  the  best  interests  of  the  rising  generation,  must  be 
considered  as  deeply  involved  in  the  banishment  of  such  drinks 
from  habitual  use.  You  request  a  statement  of  my  own  expe- 
rience in  reference  to  this  matter.  I  never  was  in  the  habit  of 
using  ardent  spirits,  and  during  the  earlier  periods  of  my  life 
seldom  drank  wine.  Yet  my  abstinence  from  it,  prior  to  the 
forty-third  year  of  my  age,  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  either 
systematic  or  rigid.  In  that  year  I  had  a  severe  fit  of  illness, 
in  recovering  from  which,  the  use  of  some  sound  old  wine, 
which  was  providentially  within  my  reach,  w^as  so  strikingly 
beneficial,  that  my  physician  advised  me  to  continue  it  after 
my  recovery;  and,  indeed,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  I  ought 
to  take  at  least  one  glass,  if  not  two,  of  good  wine  daily  to  the 
end  of  my  life.  I  followed  his  advice  for  more  than  sixteen 
years.  I  very  seldom  drank  more  than  one  glass,  and  never 
more  than  two  glasses.  In  this  moderate  use  I  was  almost  in- 
variably regular ;  and  great  were  the  pains  to  which  I  sub- 
mitted, from  time  to  time,  for  obtaining  wine  of  puva  and  in- 
dubitable qualities,  not  as  a  matter  of  luxury  but  of  health. 

'  During  all  this  time,  my  health,  though  not  bad,  was  deli- 
cate;  and,  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteen  years  just 
mentioned,  there  was  every  appearance  that   my  constitution 


302  SOCIAL    KEFORM.  [CH.  33.  2. 

was  giviDg  way,  and  that  a  premature  and  feeble  old  age  was 
creeping  upon  me.  Still,  I  had  no  suspicion  that  wine  was 
hurting  me,  and  only  supposed  that,  in  spite  of  its  benefit.^,  my 
sedentary  habits  were  undermining  my  strength.  More  than 
six  years  ago,  when  I  was  approaching  my  sixtieth  year,  hear- 
ing so  much  said  about  the  mischiefs  of  stimulating  drinks, 
and  entering  as  I  did  with  cordial  zeal  into  the  Temperance 
Keformation,  I  determined  to  go  be^'ond  those  around  me,  and 
to  abstain  not  merely  from  ardent  spirits,  but  to  make  the  ex- 
periment, for  at  least  three  months,  what  should  be  the  efl'ect 
of  an  immediate  and  entire  abstinence  from  wine  and  all  in- 
toxicating beverages.  Accordingly,  I  broke  off  at  once,  and 
from  that  day  to  this,  have  not  tasted  wine,  excepting  at  the 
."-acramental  table.  I  have  also  abstained,  during  that  time, 
from  cider,  beer,  and  every  species  of  drink  stronger  than 
water,  and  never  set  any  of  them  on  my  table,  unless  they  are 
called  for  by  peculiar  circumstances. 

*  The  experiment  had  not  proceeded  more  than  a  single  month, 
before  I  became  satisfied  that  my  abstinence  was  not  only  dis- 
tinctly, but  very  strikingly  beneficial.  I  was  so  far  from  suf- 
fering any  injury  from  the  abstraction  of  my  accustomed 
stimulus,  that  the  effect  was  all  the  other  w^ay.  My  appetite 
was  more  uniform  and  healthful ;  my  digestion  decidedly  im- 
proved ;  my  strength  increased ;  my  sleep  more  comfortable ; 
and  all  my  mental  exercises  more  clear,  pleasant,  and  success- 
ful. Instead  of  awaking  in  the  morning  with  parched  lips, 
and  with  a  sense  of  feverish  heat,  such  feelings  were  almost 
entirely  banished  ;  and  instead  of  that  nervous  irritability, 
which,  during  my  indulgence  in  wine,  was  seldom  wholly  ab- 
sent, I  am  now  favored  with  a  state  of  feeling,  in  this  respect, 
very  greatly  improved.  In  short,  my  experience,  precludes  all 
doubt,  that  the  entire  disuse  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  has 
been  connected,  in  my  case,  with  benefits  of  the  most  signal 
kind,  with  much  firmer  health  than  I  enjoyed  twenty  years 
ago,  with  more  cheerful  feelings,  with  greater  alacrity  of  mind, 
and  with  a  very  sensible  increase  of  my  capacity  for  labor  of 
every  kind.  I  can  never  cease  to  be  grateful  that  I  was  led  to 
make  this  experiment,  and  think  it  highly  probable,  that  if  I 
had  not  adopted  this  course,  I  should  not  now  have  been  in  the 
land  of  the  living.  I  have  had  occasion,  frequently,  to  observe 
that  some  who,  like  myself,  drink  nothing  but  water,  are  very 
liberal  in  their  use  of  that  element.  They  drink  it  often  and 
largely,  and  especially  make  a  very  free  use  of  it  at  dinner. 
This  was  once  my  habit,  but  I  became  fully  convinced  that  it  was 
not  salutary,  at  least  to  me.     The  truth  is,  since  I  have  left  off 


1836.]  TEMPERANCE.  303 

the  use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  I  seldom  experience  the 
sensation  of  thirst.  Often  I  do  not  touch  a  particle  of  any- 
kind  of  drink  at  dinner,  and  even  when  I  am  overtaken  with 
thirst,  I  find  that,  in  my  case,  it  is  better  slaked  witli  a  few 
tea-spoonfuls  of  water,  taken  slowly  and  at  several  swallows, 
than  a  whole  tumblerful,  or  double  that  quantity,  as  many  are 
accustomed  to  take.  I  am  very  confident  that  we  may  take 
too  much  even  of  water,  and  that  deluging  the  stomach,  even 
with  the  most  innocent  fluid,  tends  to  interfere  with  perfect 
digestion. 

'  I  feel  a  deep  interest,  ray  dear  Sir,  in  the  reception  and 
prevalence  of  these  opinions.  It  would  be  well  for  the  church 
and  the  world,  if  our  present  race  of  young  men,  especially 
those  in  our  seminaries  and  colleges,  could  be  prevailed  upon 
to  enter  into  the  spirit  and  practice  of  this  doctrine.  How 
many  broken  constitutions ;  how  many  cases  of  miserable  ner- 
vous debility;  how  many  degraded  characters;  how  many 
melancholy  wrecks  of  domestic  peace,  and  of  official  useful- 
ness, would  be  spared,  if  we  could  make  our  beloved  young 
men  believe  us  when  we  speak  thus  !  May  the  Lord  enlighten 
and  counsel  them  in  his  time !  AVith  many  prayers  that  you 
and  your  associates  may  be  guided  and  prospered  in  your  be- 
nevolent labors, 

'  I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  vour  friend  and  brother, 

'Samuel  Miller.' 

Upon  a  paper  attached  to  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  letter, 
which  Dr.  Miller  preserved,  was  found  the  following  memo- 
randum : — 

'  The  inclosed  is  a  printed  copy  of  a  letter  on  Temperance, 
which  I  wrote  thirteen  years  ago,  to  Dr.  Justin  Edwards, 
and  which  I  am  still  disposed  to  abide  by  and  warmly  approve. 
I  wish  it  to  stand  as  a  testimonial  of  my  early  and  zealous  ad- 
hesion to  the  cause  of  pledged  abstinence  from  all  that  can  intoxi- 
cate. That  cause  I  love,  and  hope  I  shall  have  the  privilege  of 
promoting  as  long  as  I  live. 

'  Princeton,  April  2,  1849.' 

This  account  of  Dr.  Miller's  experience,  often  drawn 
from  him  by  ardent  Temperance  men,  and  retailed  by  tliem 
in  oral  address  and  in  print,  neededonlj  a  little  perversion 
to  make  him  out  a  "reformed  drunkard;"  and  this  turn 
was  actually  given  to  the  story  ;  he  had  been,  it  was  said, 
upon  the  very  verge  of  utter,  hopeless  ruin,  and  had  been 
rescued  by  the  total  abstinence  pledge  ;  he  was  a  miracle  of 


304  SOCIAL  REFORM.  [CH.  33.  2. 

the  great  Temperance  Reformation.  At  length,  he  was 
oblicred,  as  the  wonder  increased  at  every  roll  of  the  ball, 
to  interpose,  disclaim  the  heroship  of  the  current  version, 
and  restore  the  account  to  its  original,  modest  and  truthful 
proportions. 

While  Dr.  Miller  continued  to  take  a  daily  glass  of  wine, 
he  attended  to  the  duty  with  the  most  scrupulous  exactness. 
To  illustrate  this,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  when  he  went 
to  preach,  of  a  Sabbath  morning,  in  a  neighboring  church, 
proposing  to  drive  away  homeward,  immediately  after  the 
service,  from  the  church-door,  he  generally,  if  the  drive 
were  of  some  length,  took  provision  for  a  plain  dinner,  for 
himself  and  his  attendant,  in  the  carriage  ;  and  this  was 
discussed,  commonly,  with  great  relish  on  the  way.  On 
such  occasions,  the  frugal  glass,  accurately  measured,  and 
corked  up  in  a  vial,  was  never  forgotten  :  that  glassful  only 
was  needed  ;  for  one  of  his  sons,  if  anybody,  was  his  at- 
tendant, and  had  never  been  commanded  to  drink  wine  as 
a  medicine. 

Kot  only  did  Dr.  Miller  make  his  example  promotive  of 
temperance ;  but  he  was  always  ready  to  speak,  preach  or 
write  in  commendation  of  temperance  principles.  Par- 
ticularly in  his  works  for  the  young — his  "  Letters  on 
Clerical  Manners  and  Habits,"  his  "  Letters  of  a  Grand- 
father," and  his  "Letters  of  a  Father  to  his  Sons  in  Col- 
lege," he  failed  not  to  urge  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
drinks,  as  by  self-interest  and  duty,  both  alike,  required. 
In  fact,  there  was  hardly  any  subject  upon  which  he  ap- 
peared to  speak  or  preach,  with  greater  zeal  or  earnest- 
ness than  upon  this.  Frequently,  when  the  subject  was  to 
be  reported  upon,  in  Presbytery  or  Synod,  his  known  ac- 
tivity and  interest  in  the  Temperance  cause  led  to  his  ap- 
pointment upon  the  committee — often  as  its  chairman. 

As  suggested  in  the  letter  to  Dr.  Edwards,  he  took  great 
pains,  seeing  he  must,  as  he  thought,  drink  a  little  wine, 
to  secure  the  veritable  juice  of  the  grape.  Through  friends 
in  New  York,  he  managed,  at  intervals,  to  purchase  small 
([uantities  of  the  very  best — so  declared — in  the  market. 
It  would,  of  course,  improve  by  keeping,  and,  with  charac- 
teristic exactness,  the  several  purchases,  in  demijohns  and 
bottles,  distinctly  labelled,  were  stowed  away  in  a  cellar 


1836.]  TEMPERANCE.  305 

wine-closet.  After  he  had  given  up  the  habit,  this  vinous 
store  was  left  to  mature  by  age,  excepting  when  a  little 
was  drawn  out  for  a  sick  person — one  of  the  family  or  a 
neighbor.  After  his  death,  the  question  arose — What  is  to 
be  done  with  that  prime  old  wine — Madeira,  Sherry  and  of 
other  kinds  ?  One  suggested  its  being  kept  for  the  sick  ; 
another  that  it  should  be  presented  to  the  church  for  sacra- 
mental occasions.  At  length,  it  was  proposed  to  employ 
an  experienced  taster,  to  determine,  before  a  great  ado  was 
made  over  the  precious  stuff,  wliat  its  real  worth  might  be. 
The  expert  arrived,  and  was  left,  without  remark,  to  form 
his  own  judgment.  A  little  of  this  brand  and  that,  witli 
due  solemnity,  he  put  to  his  delicately  appreciative  lips, 
smacking  them  ever  and  anon,  as  if  with  unusual  enjoyment. 
No  wonder,  since  the  wine  had  been  so  costly,  and  was  so 
old!  Said  heat  last  when  he  had  tasted  all,  'My  advice  is 
that  you  just  pour  the  whole  together,  and  use  it  for  cook- 
in  or.      It  is  fit  for  nothino;  else.' 

During  Dr.  Miller's  earlier  years  in  Princeton — while 
he  drank  wine  himself — it  was  always  upon  his  dinner  ta- 
ble, whenever  he  entertained  the  clergy,  or  others;  and 
there  was  even  brandy,  in  the  sideboard,  for  those  visitors 
who  thought  they  needed  it.  Then,  as  the  temperance 
reformation  advanced,  the  brandy  disappeared ;  when  he 
gave  up  his  own  daily  glass,  he  would  still,  for  a  time,  tell 
his  guests,  that  he  had  in  the  sideboard,  a  little  wine  "  for 
the  weaker  brethren  ;"  but,  soon,  the  decanter  was  entirely 
banished,  unless  medicine  was  called  for.  Thus  in  his  own 
house,  the  progress  of  reform  was  very  clearly  and  happily 
marked  and  illustrated.  'So  feature  of  this  reform  has 
been  more  noticeable,  than  the  almost  entire  disuse,  among 
the  so-called  evangelical  clero-Y  of  the  land,  of  evervthinsr 
that  can  intoxicate — all  fermented,  as  well  as  spirituous, 
liquors. 


CHAPTER    THIRTY-FOUHTH. 

MISCELLANEOUS  :\I  OTTERS. 


1836, 1837. 


1.  The  Biblical  Repertory. 

The  Biblical  Repertory  for  1836  contained  five  articles, 
at  least — altogether  ninety-three  pages — from  Dr.  Miller's 
pen.  The  first  on  "  Christia»n  Union, "^  noticing  a  work  on 
this  subject  by  Abraham  Van  Dyck,  Esquire,  of  New  York 
City,  and  a  review  of  it  by  Bishop  Smith  of  Kentucky, 
brings  us  to  the  conclusion,  that  outward  union  cannot  pos- 
sibly produce,  but,  to  be  profitable,  must  be  produced  by, 
doctrinal  acrreement  and  mutual  love ;  and  that  mere  or- 
ganic  separation  is  not  necessarily  schism,  as  to  either  of 
two  denominations  which  recognize  each  other  as  Christian 
churches,  and  commune  together;  but  that  it  is  clearly 
schismatic  to  refuse  such  recognition  or  communion,  except 
on  plain  scriptural  grounds.  In  regard  to  his  own  Church 
he  remarks, — 

"  We  think  we  do  no  injustice  to  any  other  portion  of  Protes- 
tant Christendom,  when  we  say,  that  w^e  are  confident  no  de- 
nomination of  Christians  exceeds  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
genuine  Christian  liberality,  and  in  a  readiness  to  unite  in 
Christian  effort  with  all  classes  of  credible  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity. Our  system  is  absolutely  less  exclusive,  and  more 
])acific  than  any  other  in  our  country,  which  admits  the  impor- 
tance of  truth  at  all.  We  are  really  almost  the  only  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  in  the  United  States  whose  views  of  truth,  of 
the  Gospel  ministry,  and  of  ecclesiastical  order,  present  no  ob- 
stacle to  our  communing  and  co-operating  with  any  and  every 
denomination  who  hold  fast  the  essentials  of  true  religion.  Nor 
can  we  hesitate  to  assert,  that  the  most  conspicuous  and  edify- 
ing examples  of  such  union  and  co  operation,  within  the  last 

1  P.  11. 

306 


1836.]  THE    BIBLICAL    RErERTORY.  307 

twenty  years,  have  been  actually  presented  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  ^yhy,  then,  it  is,  that  we  are  everywhere  calumniated 
as  eminently  sectarian  in  our  character ;  M'hy  the  most  mild 
and  respectful  attempts  to  defend  our  own  opinions,  and  to 
show  to  our  members  our  reasons  for  differing  from  sister  de- 
nominations around  us,  are  stigmatized  as  violent  and  unpro- 
voked attacks ;  and  why  these  charges  happen  to  be  most 
clamorously  urged  by  those  of  our  neighbors  whose  sedarifoa  is 
acknowledged  on  all  hands  to  be  the  most  rampant  and  exclu- 
sive in  the  land  ;  are  questions,  the  responsibility  of  answering 
which,  we  are  glad,  does  not  lie  at  our  door."^ 

The  second  article  is  upon  "The  most  suitable  Name  for 
the  Christian  Sabbath,"-  and  closes  as  follows: — 

"  We  have  said,  that  we  prefer  "  the  Lord's  day  "  to  any 
other  title.  We  are  aware,  that  this  can  never  be  the  name 
employed  by  the  mass  of  the  community.  There  is  something 
about  this  title  which  will  forever  prevent  it  from  being  fa- 
miliar on  the  popular  lip.  The  title,  "the Sabbath,"  is  connec- 
ted with  no  such  difficulty.  It  is  Scriptural,  expressive,  con- 
venient, the  term  employed  in  a  commandment  which  is  weekly 
repeated  by  millions,  and  so  far  familiar  to  all  who  live  in 
Christian  lands,  that  no  consideration  occurs  why  it  may  not 
become  universal.  "The  Lord's  day  "  may,  and  perhaps,  ought 
ever  to  be,  the  language  of  the  pulpit,  and  of  all  public  or  so- 
cial religious  exercises;  meanwhile,  if  the  phrase,  "the  Sab- 
bath," could  be  generally  naturalized  in  worldly  circles,  and  in 
common  parlance,  it  would  be  gaining  a  desirable  object."^ 

The  third  article  on  "  Toleration"^  must  be  passed  by; 
but  a  short  extract  from  the  fourth,  a  review  of  ''Thj 
Practical  Church  Member."^  by  the  Rev.  John  Mitchell, 
may  prove  seasonable.  After  discussing  the  "Plans  of 
Union,"  between  Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians, 
l)r.  Miller  remarks, — 

"For  ourselves  in  fine  we  are  constrained  to  say,  with  em- 
phasis, the  longer  we  live,  the  deeper  is  our  conviction,  that,  if 
the  Presbyterian  Church  desires  to  have  a  healthful  and  solid 
growth,  and  to  accomplish  the  greatest  amount  of  good  in  our 
own  body,  and  to  all  around  her;  her  true  policy  is,  not  to  level 
the  walls  which  divide  her  from  other  denominations;  not  to  seek 
a  rapid  enlargement,  by  gaining  numbers  at  the  expense  of  sur- 
rendering her  peculiarities  as  a  denomination.  Our  strength 
and  glory,  as  a  Church,  consists  in  our  simple,  pure,  apostolical 

'  r.  35.         2  p.  04.         3  p.  73.         4  P.  185.         &   P.  243. 


308  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CII.  34.  1. 

doctrine  and  government,  accompanied  by  the  Holy  Spirit's 
awakening  and  sanctifying  power.  The  moment  we  give  up 
these,  we  are,  like  Samson,  shorn  of  his  locks.  The  Philistines 
will  be  upon  us,  and  will  prevail  against  us.  All  history  bears 
witness,  that  when  Presbyterians  degenerated  into  Arminianism, 
or  Pelagianism,  and  consented  to  exchange  their  government 
and  discipline  for  a  more  lax  system,  their  glory  departed. 
Their  peace  was  gone.  They  gained  in  numbers ;  but  they  lost 
in  purity,  in  harmony,  and  in  strength.  The  true  way  for 
every  denomination  (and  we  should  say  the  same  if  we  were 
conscientious  Congregationalists)  is  faithfully  to  hold  fast  and 
maintain  that  system  of  truth  and  order  wdiich  it  verily  believes 
to  be  founded  on  the  Word  of  God,  without  surrender  or  com- 
promise ;  to  treat  all  denominations  around  it  with  respect  and 
kindness ;  to  indulge  in  no  exclusive  claims,  or  denominational 
reproaches;  to  co-operate  with  others  in  enterprizes  of  general 
Christian  benevolence,  as  far  as  can  be  done  without  the  sacri- 
fice of  a  single  principle;  and  to  employ  its  utmost  strength  in 
sustaining  at  home,  and  spreading  as  far  as  possible  abroad, 
that  system  of  doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline,  which  it  be- 
lieves to  be  scriptural.  This  is  the  true  Avay  to  peace,  to  har- 
mony, to  brotherly  love,  and  to  spiritual  strength.  No  denomi- 
nation of  Christians  ever  faithfully  and  prayerfully  pursued  this 
course  without  being  blessed  of  God,  and  largely  prospering. 
And  were  the  Presbyterian  Church,  from  this  hour,  sacredly 
and  strictly  to  adopt  this  plan  in  conducting  all  her  affairs;  act- 
ing faithfully  in  conformity  wath  her  own  established  princi- 
ples;  seeking  no  additional  alliances;  making  no  compromises, 
for  the  sake  of  gaining  either  money  or  men;  receiving 
none  either  as  ministers  or  elders,  but  those  w^ho  appeared  truly 
and  sincerely  to  love  her  system  as  a  whole,  and  decisively  to 
prefer  it  to  all  others;  were  she,  henceforth,  simply  to  take  this 
course;  turning  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left  for  the 
l)urpose  of  enlarging  her  borders ;  and  exerting  herself  to  the 
utmost,  to  give  her  system,  in  its  simplicity  and  purity,  as  far  as 
})ossible,  to  all  nations  ;  her  growth  would  be  not,  perhaps,  quite 
so  rapid ;  but  it  would  be  healthy,  homogeneous,  and  peaceful. 
Every  accession  to  her  numbers,  instead  of  introducing  disaf- 
fection and  division  into  her  camp,  would  be  an  increase  of 
real  strength.  Such  a  policy,  faithfully  pursued,  would  be 
the  precursor  of  the  most  happy  and  prosperous  day  she  has 
yet  seen;  and  render  her  a  richer  blessing  than  she  has  ever  yet 
l)een  to  the  religious  denominations  around  her,  to  our  country, 
and  to  the  world."^ 

The  last  article  by  Dr.  Miller  in  this  volume  of  the  Re- 

1  P.  267. 


1830.]  A    REMINISCENCE.  300 

pertory,  is  entitled  "  Thoughts  on  Evangelizing  the  world," 
the  title  of  a  sermon  by  Thomas  11.  Skinner,  D.D.,  advo- 
cating, virtually,  voluntary  associations  in  opposition  to 
church  boards.  A  lecture  by  John  T.  Pressly,  D.D.,  in 
favor  of  close  communion,  as  exhibiting  another  extreme,  is 
connected  ^vith  the  former  in  a  short  review,  commencing 
thus : — 

"i\re  quid  nhnis  is  a  good  practical  maxim,  no  less  in  theolo- 
gy than  in  morals,  in  literature,  and  in  domestic  economy. 
Extremes  are  seldom  either  wise  or  safe.  Of  this  we  have  a 
striking  example  in  the  Discourses,  the  titles  of  which  stand  at 
the  head  of  this  article.  The  first  is  a  specimen  of  anti-secta- 
rianism run  mad;  the  second  of  the  "high-pressure"  principle 
on  the  opposite  side.  AVe  can  agree  with  neither.  We  regret 
to  announce  such  publications  in  the  nineteenth  century.  They 
both  argue  a  morbid  state  of  the  public  mind  in  regard  to  the 
great  subject  of  which  they  treat." 

2.     A  Reminiscence. 

The  author  of  the  following  reminiscence,  which  ap- 
peared in  The  Presbyterian  nearly  a  year,  as  the  date 
shows,  after  Dr.  Miller's  death,  is  unknown  :  it  was,  how- 
ever, contributed  "  by  a  lady."  The  visit  of  which  it  gives 
account  was  paid  in  1836. 

'  Mr.  A.  was  educated  at  Princeton.  He  had  an  exalted  re- 
spect for  the  venerable  Professors  of  the  Seminary,  and  a  strong 
personal  attachment  to  them,  and  other  friends  in  the  place. 
A  few  weeks  after  our  marriage,  he  proposed  a  visit  to  Prince- 
ton. Accordingly,  one  pleasant  afternoon,  in  the  early  part  of 
June,  we  made  the  brief  journey  from  this  city,  and  reached 
the  place  of  our  destination  about  sunset.  The  evening  was 
passed  at  our  hotel,  in  receiving  the  visits  of  two  or  three  young 
friends,  who  were  then  members  of  college.  The  next  morning 
we  visited  the  Seminary  and  College  buildings,  called  upon  a 
suffering  invalid,  who  had  long  been  th^e  object  of  Mr.  A.'s 
special  sympathy,  and  whom  he  desired  me  very  much  to  see  ; 
and  then  walked  about  tlie  town,  to  view  various  places,  Avhicli 
were  pointed  out  to  rae  as  peculiarly  interesting  from  their  as- 
sociations. 

'  In  compliance  with  a  polite  invitation,  we  spent  the  after- 
noon at  Dr.  Miller's.  We  were  cordially  received  by  the  ladies 
of  the  family,  and  soon  after  I  was  seated  in  the  parlour,  (ray 
husband  having  left  to  make  two  or  three  calls  elsewhere,)  Dr. 
^liller   entered.     Those  who  knew  him   personally  remember 


310  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CIL  34.  2. 

the  commanding  dignity  of  his  manner,  and  the  awe  which  his 
presence  ahnost  insensibly  inspired.  I  was  fifteen  years  younger 
then  than  I  am  now,  and  I  distinctly  remember  the  timidity 
with  which  I  entered  into  a  conversation  with  one  so  much  my 
superior. 

'  The  conversation  was  at  first  of  a  general  character,  but 
very  soon  was  directed  to  a  practical  subject,  and  this  was 
treated  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  my 
mind.  It  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  this  venerable  man,  ab- 
sorbed as  he  was  in  the  high  duties  of  his  ofiice  as  a  theological 
Professor,  to  make  this  interview  with  a  young  woman — a 
casual  visitor  at  his  house — one  of  permanent  advantage  to 
her,  while  at  the  same  time  there  was  nothing  in  his  remarks, 
or  his  manner,  which  indicated  the  intention  of  exhorting  me 
to  "  well-doing." 

'Dr.  Miller  remarked,  that  persons  were  apt  to  wait  for  great 
occasions  for  doing  good.  That  it  was  common  for  ladies  at 
that  time,  (and  I  think  he  would  not  have  changed  his  opinion 
had  he  lived  to  this,)  to  think  that  everything  really  useful 
must  be  done  in  societies  and  associations ;  Avhile  others  felt  as 
if  there  was  nothing  left  for  them  to  do.  But  there  was  one 
thing  he  would  specify,  as  a  means  of  usefulness,  within  the 
reach  of  every  young  woman.  It  was  to  visit  aged  j)ersons  and 
invalids  in  one's  immediate  neighbourhood,  for  the  purjjose  of 
reading  to  them.  An  occasional  hour  thus  spent,  might  be 
greatly  blessed  both  to  the  listener  and  the  reader,  and  a  great 
amount  of  happiness  thus  secured.  He  spoke  feelingly  of  the 
fact,  that  the  comfort  of  aged  joecple,  as  to  their  intellectual 
wants,  was  too  often  overlooked,  even  where  every  attention 
was  paid  to  their  physical  necessities — and  that  we  become  so 
accustomed  to  witnessing  their  infirmities,  that  we  cease  to 
estimate  their  sorest  privations.  This  was  true  of  many  an 
invalid  also,  whose  long  confinement  had  perhaps  greatly  added 
to  the  cares  of  a  household.  Many  such  were  compelled  to 
spend  hours  in  "  solitude,"  which  the  presence  of  some  useful 
and  untiring  visitor  might  have  "  sweetened." 

'  I  was  greatly  delighted  with  much  more  which  fell  from 
the  lips  of  this  "mighty  man  of  God"  on  this  subject.  I  had 
not  the  courage  to  assure  him  that  the  truth  of  his  remarks 
was  enforced  upon  my  own  mind  by  the  experience  I  had  had 
l)y  a  long  companionship  with  an  aged  grandmother.  I  knew 
I  had  never  felt  the  importance  of  the  duty  he  was  urging,  as 
I  ought,  and  I  received  his  counsels  as  fresh  instruction  which 


1836.]  MISCELLANEOUS    TOPICS.  311 

I  would  lay  up  in  my  heart,  and  practice  with  more  faithful- 
ness in  future. 

'  This  was  the  only  interview  I  ever  had  with  Dr.  Miller. 
He  took  pains  to  make  that  hour's  conversation  profitahle  to 
me.  I  never  saw  him  afterwards.  But  brief  as  was  this  op- 
portunity of  acquaintance,  I  have  ever  remembered  him,  not 
as  the  august  stranger,  to  whom  I  looked  up  with  deferential 
awe,  but  as  a  faithful  counsellor  and  Christian  friend. 

'New  York,  January  1,  1851.' 

3.     Miscellaneous  Topics. 

Dr.  Xevins,  of  Baltimore,  died  in  the  Autumn  of  1835. 
Dr.  Plumer  prepared  a  Memoir,  to  which  Dr.  Miller  con- 
tributed a  letter,  dated,  January  29th,  1836.^  Besides 
this,  his  Repertory  articles,  and  perhaps  some  fugitive 
pieces,  his  only  publications,  in  this  year,  were  three  ser- 
mons. The  first  was  preached  at  the  installation  of  Mr. 
Backus,  and  printed  at  the  request  of  his  church,  in  Bal- 
timore.- The  others  were  contributed  to  The  American 
National  Preacher.'^ 

Here  is  an  entry  from  Dr.  Miller's  diary: — 

'"October  31,  1836.  "^  *  My  health,  blessed  be  his  name, 
is  remarkably  good.  I  perform  labor  with  as  little  fatigue  as 
ever,  perhaps  rather  less  than  ever.  I  am  enabled  to  preach 
as  often,  and  with  as  little  sense  of  weakness  or  weariness,  as  I 
did  twenty  years  ago.  And  I  am  more  free  from  aches  and  in- 
firmities than  most  men,  as  I  suppose,  at  my  time  of  life.  Oh, 
could  I  only  say,  that  my  soul,  in  a  corresponding  degree,  is 
prospering  and  in  health,  I  should  indeed  be  a  happy  man. 
Yet,  if  I  do  not  deceive  myself,  I  have  a  deeper  sense  of  my 
own  weakness  and  unworthiness ;  a  more  heartfelt  impression  of 
the  Saviour's  excellence  and  glory ;  and  a  more  fixed  and  habit- 
ual desire  to  be  conformed  to  his  will,  and  to  be  made  instru- 
mental in  promoting  his  glory,  than  in  times  past.  Oh,  for 
more  grace  to  glorify  my  dear  Saviour  in  body  and  spirit,  which 
are  his  I' 

iPp.  71-77. 

2"  The  Sacretl  Office  Magnified  :  a  Sermon,  delivered  in  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  in  the  City  of  Baltimore,  September  15,  IS^f) ;  at  the  Installation 
of  the  Rev.  John  C.  Backus,  as  Pastor  of  the  said  Church.  By  Samuel  Miller, 
D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  (lovernment  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Baltimore  :  1830." — Romans 
xi.  lo.— 8vo.     Pp.  4fi. 

3  For  December,  1836.  "Vol.  XI.,  No.  7.  Sermons  ccxxx,  ccxxxi.  By 
Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Christ  our  Righteousness. — 
Jeremiah  xxiii.  6." — Pp.  10. 


312  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CH.  34.  3. 

To  the  Rev'd  Dr.  Andrew  Reed,  of  London,  who,  with 
Dr.  Matheson,  had  lately  visited  the  United  States,  Dr. 
Miller  wrote,  on  the  28th  of  November,  1836, 

'The  state  of  our  Church  remains  very  much  as  it  was  when 
you  left  America.  The  New^-school  men,  in  the  General  As- 
sembly which  sat  in  May  last,  had  a  majority,  and  refused 
to  condemn  certain  errors  which  were  brought  up  for  consider- 
ation, and  judgment;  and  also  refused,  as  an  ecclesiastical 
judicatory,  to  commence  the  work  of  foreign  missions.  These 
proceedings  have  given  great  pain  to  the  friends  of  truth  and 
order,  and  also  to  those  who  wish  our  beloved  Church  to  be 
engaged  in  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  world;  and  thus, 
while  she  does  good  to  others,  to  receive,  herself,  the  benefit  of 
this  hallowed  employment.  But  we  are  not,  it  seems,  to  be 
gratified  as  yet.  After  all,  however,  I  am  persuaded,  that  the 
refusal  of  the  Assembly  to  act  as  we  wished,  in  the  cases  re- 
ferred to,  has  made  such  an  impression  on  our  churches,  and 
especially  on  a  number  of  excellent  brethren  who  have  hitherto 
acted  with  New-school  men,  as  will  hereafter  place  them  on  the 
right  side  in  counsel  and  effort. 

'  I  am  truly  sorry  to  say,  that  the  abolition  question  continues 
to  agitate  our  country  and  our  church;  though  not,  I  think,  so 
much  as  it  did  the  two  preceding  years.  I  believe,  however, 
that  there  is  no  opinion  more  firmly  fixed  in  the  minds  of  nine- 
tenths  of  all  the  thinking,  pious,  sober-minded  people  in  the 
United  States,  than  that  the  publications  and  the  frantic  efforts 
of  the  Abolitionists  have  done  incalculable  injury  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  slaves  themselves,  and  put  much  further  off  the 
termination  of  slavery.     ^     * 

'  I  deeply  regret,  my  dear  Sir,  the  language  which  some  of  the 
friends  of  abolition  in  your  country  have  permitted  themselves  to 
use  concerning  American  ministers  and  American  Christians  in 
relation  to  the  business  of  slavery.  I  have  scarcely  seen  a  speech 
or  a  communication  from  any  individual  on  your  side  of  the  water, 
which  did  not  appear  to  me  to  argue  a  wonderful  want  of 
knowledge  both  of  principles  and  of  facts  belonging  to  the 
subject,  in  reference  to  the  United  States.  I  hold  myself  to  be 
somewhat  of  an  impartial  judge  in  this  matter,  as  I  am  a  warm 
friend  to  abolition  as  speedy  as  is  consistent  with  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  slaves  themselves.  I  really  am  afraid  that  some  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  friends  of  religion  in  Great  Britain  will 
break  up  all  that  ecclesiastical  intercourse,  which  was  so  hap- 
pily begun,  and  which  you  so  ably  contributed  to  promote.  I 
am  perfectly  persuaded,  that,  if  the  language  and  conduct  of 


1836.]  CHURCH    TROUBLES.  313 

certain  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  your  country,  in  relation  to 
American  slavery,  should  be  persisted  in,  our  General  Assembly 
will  never  send  another  delegate  to  England.  I  speak,  of 
course,  as  an  individual;  for  when  the  General  Assembly  was 
last  in  session,  some  of  the  most  offensive  things  reported  from 
some  of  your  ecclesiastical  bodies  had  not  reached  America;  so 
that  that  body  could  not  act  on  them.  But,  unless  I  am  greatly 
mistaken,  when  it  next  meets,  there  will  be  little  disposition 
felt  to  continue  the  intercourse.  How  many  pious  hopes  will 
be  disappointed  by  such  a  result,  I  need  not  say  to  a  brother  so 
accustomed  to  take  large  views  of  the  communion  of  saints, 
and  of  what  is  desirable  in  the  co-operation  of  Christians. 

'I  am,  Rev'd  and  dear  Sir,  with  much  respect,  your  friend 
and  brother  in  the  bonds  of  the  Gospel, 

'Sam'l  Miller.' 

4.    Church  Troubles. 

Thus  far,  as  tactitians,  the  New  School  had  far  excelled 
the  Old.  Nor  was  this,  necessarily,  to  their  discredit. 
Thev  mi^ht  be  able,  and  vet  honest,  fair.  Christian  tacti- 
tians,  endeavoring  only  to  bring  out  their  whole  force,  and 
secure  the  prevalence  of  opinions  which  they  deemed  ortho- 
dox, and  of  plans  which  they  considered  for  the  edification 
of  the  Church.  The  Old  School,  conscious  of  the  right- 
eousness of  their  cause,  and  sure  that  they  were  in  the 
majority,  had  too  much  neglected  the  proper  meaus  within 
their  power  of  uniting  and  marshalling  all  their  adherents. 
Whichever  party  was  right  in  its  principles  was  right,  also, 
in  exerting  itself  manfully  and  intelligently  for  the  success 
of  those  principles. 

The  decisions  of  the  Assembly  of  1836  completely  opened 
the  eyes  of  all  who  were  opposed  to  laxity  of  creed  and 
laxity  of  ecclesiastical  order  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Some  of  these  hastily  concluded  that  their  cause  was  lost, 
and  they  were  ready  to  secede  from  the  New  School,  leav- 
ing in  their  hands  all  church  funds  and  every  church  insti- 
tution: the  purity  and  peace  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  said 
they,  are  worth  any  and  every  sacrifice.  Others,  more 
prudent  and  more  hopeful,  endeavored,  not  without  success, 
to  restrain  the  rash,  and  encourage  the  faint-hearted.  Let 
us  make  further  efforts,  they  said,  to  arouse  the  Church  to 
a  sense  of  her  danger:  let  us  only  bring  out  our  whole 
force,  and,  with  God's  blessing,  we  shall  yet  triumph.  Or, 
Vol.  IL— 26 


314  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CII.   34.  4. 

even  if  disappointment  and  humiliation  yet  await  us,  let  us 
olino-  to  the  Church  of  our  fathers,  so  long  as  we  are  free, 
ourselves,  to  teach  the  truth,  the  truth  only  and  the  whole 
truth,  and  to  protest  against  error:  in  the  last  extremity 
alone,  and  when  we  can  otherwise  no  longer  keep  a  good 
conscience,  should  we  ahandon  her  to  her  enemies.  The 
question  is  not  only  whether  we  are  willing  to  go  forth  empty 
for  Christ's  sake;  but  also  whether  those  funds,  institutions 
and  interests  of  which  he  has  made  us  custodians,  should 
he  surrendered  without  a  more  determined  struggle. 

Nothing  had  astonished  the  Old  School,  and  nothing, 
except  the  prevalence  of  doctrinal  error,  had  alarmed  them, 
more,  than  the  assertion  now  currently  made  by  their  op- 
ponents, that  the  General  Assembly  had,  under  the  Con- 
stitution, no  right  to  conduct  foreign  missions,  or  indeed 
any  missions,  by  means  of  a  board  or  committee.  All  the 
Boards  of  the  Church  had  been  before  assailed,  but  here 
was  an  attempt  to  deny  their  very  constitutionality — a  blow 
at  the  root  of  the  whole  system.  The  great  principles  of 
Presbyterianism  were  becoming  more  and  more  involved  in 
the  issue :  everything  distinctive  in  her  doctrine  and  order 
was  really  at  stake. 

Before  leaving  Pittsburgh,  the  Old  School  members  of 
the  Assembly  of  1836  appointed  a  committee  of  ten — 
seven  ministers  and  three  elders — to  correspond  with  Old 
School  men  throughout  the  country,  collect  and  pub- 
lish information  of  the  true  state  of  the  Church,  and  form 
a.  rallying  point  for  all  who  could  be  united  in  the  defence 
of  orthodoxy  and  strict  Presbyterianism.  They  were,  like- 
wise, if  it  w^ere  judged  expedient,  to  call  a  convention  to 
meet  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  next  Assembly,  and  pre- 
pare for  the  great  struggle  by  which,  it  was  foreseen,  that 
body  was  to  be  profoundly  agitated.  This  committee  is- 
sued first  a  circular  of  inquiry,  the  responses  to  which  en- 
abled them  the  more  intelligently  to  prepare  and  publish 
*'An  Address  to  the  Ministers,  Elders  and  Members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church."  The  New  School,  in  the  mere 
spirit  of  party,  stigmatized  these  measures,  though  modelled, 
chielly,  after  their  own  example,  as  underhand  and  disor- 
derly. Dr.  Peters,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Home 
Missionary  Society,  and  others,  who,  for  years,  had  been 


1836.]  CHURCH    TROUBLES.  315 

writing  and  working,  both  secretly  and  openly,  against  the 
Boards  of  the  Church,  and  in  favor  of  a  lax  orthodoxy, 
denounced  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Missions,  Dr.  William  A.  McDowell,  the  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Dr.  McFarland,  and 
a  Professor  in  Princeton  Seminary,  Dr.  John  Breckinridoce, 
as  members  of  the  committee.  They  professed  to  be  scan- 
dalized by  the  issue  of  a  "secret,  confidential  circular", 
and  the  other  prudent  efforts  of  their  opponents  to  call 
forth  the  strength  of  the  Church  for  her  preservation.  The 
real  trouble  was,  that  rival  tactitians  were  now  successfully 
at  work  in  the  Old  School  body;  and  were  practising  too 
well  some  of  the  lessons  of  sound  policy,  which  their  New 
School  brethren  had  taught  them. 

The  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  to  which  the  Semi- 
nary professors  belonged,  had  been  divided  in  opinion,  all 
through  the  struggle,  but  had,  upon  the  whole,  approved 
the  course  which  those  gentlemen  had  pursued.  Upon  tlie 
recommendation  of  a  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Miller  was 
Chairman,  the  Presbytery  had,  in  1834,  expressed  its  con- 
currence with  the  Act  and  Testimony's  protestation  against 
prevailing  errors,  though  declining  to  express  an  opin- 
ion as  to  other  portions  of  that  <locument,  or  to  send 
delegates  to  the  convention  which  it  proposed.  In  February, 
1835,  the  Presbytery  had  expressed  a  unanimous  dissent 
from  the  previous  Assembly's  denial  of  the  right  to  con- 
demn a  printed  publication,  without  having  tried  its  author; 
and  of  the  right  to  examine  applicants  for  admission  to 
presbyterial  fellowship.  Now,  in  October,  1836,  a  paper 
drawn  by  Dr.  Miller,  but  incorporating  large  portions  of 
one  previously  offered  by  the  Bev.  Isaac  V.  Brown,  was 
adopted.  It  condemned,  in  really  too  personal  a  manner, 
Mr.  Barnes's  Notes  on  Romans.  It  virtually  denied  the 
correctness  of  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Barnes  in  his  vin- 
dication:— "I  have  not  changed  my  views  materially  since 
I  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel.  In  the  theological 
seminary  at  Princeton,  my  views,  which  were  the  same  as 
now,  Avere  fully  known:  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, by  which  I  was  licensed,  they  were,  or  miglit  have 
been,  fully  known."  It  condemned  all  qualifications  and 
reservations,  not  openly  declared,  in  subscribing  the  stand- 


316  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CH.  34.  4. 

ards.  It  asserted  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  engage,  as  a 
church,  in  mission  Avork  at  home  and  abroad;  and,  per- 
haps disrespectfully,  characterized  the  refusal  to  ratify  the 
contract  with  the  Western  Society  as  a  breach  of  good 
faith;  declarino;  the  Presbytery  an  auxiliary  henceforth  to 
that  Society.  In  fine,  it  accused  the  Assembly  itself  of 
having  favored  the  introduction  of  false  doctrines,  and 
screened  their  authors;  and  of  having  given  their  sanction 
to  disorganizing  assumptions.  This  paper,  though  in  some 
respects,  perhaps,  more  discriminating,  was  more  pointed 
in  condemning  the  General  Assembly,  than  the  Act  and 
Testimony  itself.  Why  should  not  the  "logic  of  events" 
— events  most  portentous — have  modified  the  judgment  of 
many  in  regard  to  the  crisis  ? 

But,  meanwhile,  the  Old  School  leaders  had  advanced 
rapidly  in  their  plans  of  reform.  They  now  distinctly 
avowed  the  conviction,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  must 
be  divided:  it  was  impossible  to  restore  harmony  and 
peace  between  two  parties  differing  so  radically  in  opinion, 
and  so  widely  alienated  in  feeling.  The  Address  of  the 
Committee  of  Ten,  declared,  "  Whatever  else  may  be  dark, 
this  is  clear,  we  cannot  continue  in  the  same  body.  ^  * 
In  some  way  or  other,  therefore,  these  men  must  be  separa- 
ted from  us."  What  zealous  Presbyterian  can  now  say 
that  they  were  wrong  ?  But  who  can  wonder  that  Dr.  Mil- 
ler and  others,  who  were  carefully  feeling  their  w^ay  along 
an  unknow^n  and  dangerous  path,  shrank  back  from  the 
gulf  thus  suddenly  opening  at  their  feet  ?  There  was  still 
felt  to  be  a  serious  angle  of  divergence  between  the  "  gen- 
tlemen of  Princeton,"  not  including  of  course.  Dr.  Breck- 
inridge, and  the  Old  School  leaders  and  provisional  com- 
mittee. 

In  the  autumn  of  1836,  the  three  Senior  Professors  of 
the  Seminary,  with  the  Rev.  James  W.  Alexander,  met,  in 
Dr.  Hodge's  study,  a  deputation  of  the  more  advanced  Old 
School  men,  informally  appointed  to  confer  with  them 
upon  the  state  of  the  church.  The  deputation  consisted  of 
Dr.  James  Blythe  of  Indiana,  Dr.  C.  C.  Cuyler  of  Phila- 
delphia, Dr.  George  Junkin  of  Easton,  Dr.  \Y.  W.  Phillips 
of  New  York,  and  the  Rev.  Isaac  Y.  BroAvn  of  Lawrence- 
ville.     The  conference  was  a  fraternal  one,  but  resulted  in 


1836.]  CHURCH   TROUBLES.  317 

nothing  decisive,  yet  seems  to  have  done  good.  ]Mr. 
Brown  relates,  that  the  position  of  tlie  Seminary  Professors 
was  so  unsatisfactory  to  some  of  the  Old  School  ;  and  the 
danger  that  the  New  School  would  gain  control  of  the  in- 
stitution was  considered  so  imminent,  that  Robert  Lenox, 
Esquire,  of  New  York,  with  others  like-minded,  had  well- 
nigh  resolved  to  establish  another  Seminary;  and  had  gone 
so  far  as  to  select  a  suitable  site,  and  place  funds  in  bank, 
for  the  undertaking  ;  but  that  the  deputation  who  visited 
Princeton  reported,  on  their  return,  that  things  did  not 
look  so  desperate  as  had  been  imagined  ;  and  the  project, 
at  least  as  to  its  immediate  execution,  Avas  abandoned.^ 

One  thing  is  certain — that  those  who  were  eagerly  in- 
tent upon  precipitating  a  division  of  the  Church  greatly 
needed  restraint;  and  Dr.  Miller,  with  others  of  like  views, 
doubtless,  to  the  extent  of  his  influence,  was  effectually 
serving  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  by  holding 
back  the  men,  who,  if  a  division  had  been  effected  any 
sooner  than  it  was,  or  in  a  different  way,  would  have  found 
themselves  out  of  doors,  instead  of  in  lawful  possession  of 
the  domicil.  The  following  letter  to  the  Rev.  David 
Elliott,  D.D.,  illustrates  his  view  of  ecclesiastical  secession. 

*  Rev'd.  and  dear  Brother,       Princeton,  December  23,  1836. 

'  I  have  intended,  for  several  weeks  to  write  to  you  ; 

and,  although  I  now  sit  down  to  fulfil  my  purpose,  my  time  is 

so  straitened  by  engagements,  that  I  must  be  more  brief  and 

general  than  I  originally  contemplated. 

'  You  will  naturally  expect,  from  this  preface,  that  it  is  not 
on  any  private  business  I  address  you,  but  on  the  affairs  of  our 
beloved  church.  I  fear  from  what  I  hear,  that  a  great  majority 
of  the  ministers  of  your  Synod  are  warndy  in  favor  of  a  divi- 
sion of  the  church ;  that  they  are  intent  on  it ;  that  some  of 
them  wish  it  to  take  place  immediately ;  that  they  are  hardly 
willing  to  wait  for  the  meeting  of  the  next  General  Assembly  ; 
but  are  resolved,  if  possible,  to  bring  it  about,  at  any  rate, 
then  ;  and  it  has  even  been  said,  that,  if  a  division  should  not 
be  then  accomplished,  some  ministers,  now  belonging  to  your 
Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  will  undoubtedly  withdraw  and  join  the 
Seceders  !  I  am  sorry  to  receive  this  impression,  but  cannot 
resist  it,  from  some  communications  which  have  been  made  to 
me. 

^  See  his  Historical  Vindication,  175,  170. 


318  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CH.  34.  4. 

*  ]My  views  of  the  subject  will  be  comprised  in  the  following 
articles. 

'  1.  I  am  perfectly  prepared  to  say,  that,  if  we  must  go  on  as 
we  have  done  for  the  last  five  or  six  years — in  a  state  of  per- 
petual strife  and  conflict — we  had  better  separate,  and  the 
sooner  the  better.     But 

'  2.  I  am  persuaded  that  by  prudence,  fidelity,  patience  and 
firmness,  we  may  avoid  a  separation.  I  have  no  doubt  that  by 
a  calm,  steady,  wise  course,  we  may  constrain  the  ultra  New 
School  men  to  withdraw^  from  our  own  ranks,  and  leave  us  in 
a  state  of  comparative  purity  and  peace.  My  impression  is, 
that  Old-schoolism  is  gaining  ground  every  day  ;  and  that  the 
2)roceedings  of  the  last  Assembly  have  done  much  to  open  the 
eyes  of  many  persons  on  the  New  School  spirit  and  plans,  who 
will  hereafter  act  with  us. 

'3.  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  possibly  eflfect  a  separation  (pro- 
vided we  should  be  a  minority  in  the  next  Assembly)  upon 
any  other  plan  than  marching  out  from  the  majority,  and 
leaving  them  in  quiet  possession  of  all  our  institutions,  funds 
and  boards,  without  any  exception.  All  our  Seminaries,  with 
their  funds,  and  all  the  funds  of  our  boards,  and  of  every  other 
kind,  are  vested  in  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly. 
These  trustees  are  bound  by  the  charter  of  incorporation  to 
ol)ey  the  General  Assembly.  The  funds,  then,  are  in  the 
power  of  the  General  Assembly.  In  whatever  direction  the 
General  Assembly  goes,  all  these  funds  will  of  course  go.  But 
would  it  not  be  a  breach  of  trust  to  abandon  to  New  School 
men  all  that  we  have  been  begging  and  obtaining,  chiefly  from 
the  pockets  of  Old  School  men,  for  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty 
years? — for  during  that  time.  New  School  men  have  pretty 
much  ceased  giving  us  any  thing.  Could  you  consent  to  give 
up  your  seminary,  funds,  buildings,  books,  etc.,  into  their  hands, 
and  we,  ours,  and  begin  again  from  nothing  ? 

'4.  Some  have  talked  of  the  Old  school  part  of  the  church, 
if  they  should  prove  a  minority  in  the  next  Assembly,  break- 
ing off  and  solemnly  declaring  themselves  the  "  True  Presbi/- 
terian  Church;"  and,  as  such,  claiming  everything  now  vested 
in^  the  church.  But  the  longer  I  reflect,  and  the  more  carefully 
I  imjuire,  on  this  subject,  the  less  is  my  confidence  in  the  possi- 
bility of  doing  this.  If  we  were  to  attempt  it,  the  New  School 
men  would,  undoubtedly,  commence  a  suit  at  law  for  the  funds, 
etc. ;  and  if;  in  the  prosecution  of  this  suit,  they  were  to  make 
such  professions  and  protestations,  as  they  did  in  the  last  As- 
sembly, of  adherence  to  the  Confession  of  iVith,  etc.,  there  is 
not  a  court  and  jury  in  Pennsylvania,  that  ^^\)uld  give  a  ver- 


1837.]  PUBLICATIONS    AND    CORRESPONDENCE.  319 

diet  against  them.  I  am  persuaded  this  course  is  impracticable. 
If  we  should  prove  to  be  a  minority  in  the  next  assembly,  and 
should  break  away,  in  my  opinion  it  would  be,  to  give  up  all 
and  go  off  beggars. 

'  5.  Might  we  not  more  successfully  promote  and  extend  the 
truth,  by  remaining  in  the  body,  and  endeavoring,  by  faithful 
and  persevering  striving  against  error,  to  extend  the  influence 
of  sound  opinions  ?  Drs.  AVitherspoon  and  Nisbet  did  not  with- 
draw from  the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  remained  and  contended 
for  the  truth ;  and  their  successors  did  the  same  ;  until  now 
the  tide  is  turning,  and  orthodoxy  is  gaining  ground  in  that 
country.  If  the  friends  of  truth  were  to  throw  themselves  out 
of  the  body,  they  could  exert  little  or  no  influence  within  it. 

'  6.  I  am  perfectly  persuaded,  that  only  a  small  fraction  of 
the  Old  School  brethren  would  consent  to  a  division,  or  actually 
take  a  part  in  it.  The  whole  Synod  of  Virginia,  that  of  Ken- 
tucky, that  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  also  those  of 
Cincinnati  and  Ohio,  though,  I  believe,  substantially  Old 
School,  would,  probably,  decline  participating  in  the  division  ; 
being  persuaded  that  less  violent  means  would  answer  the  end 
quite  as  well,  if  not  better.  Now,  what  would  become  of  our 
institutions,  if  a  division  should  be  violently  made,  and  only  a 
quarter  or  an  eighth  part  of  the  Old  School  men  and  churches 
should  join  in  it  ? 

'  7.  I  need  not  say,  that,  if  a  division  takes  place,  not  only 
Synods,  but  Presbyteries  and  individual  churches  will  be  torn 
in  pieces,  and  innumerable  lawsuits  for  church  property  be  in- 
stituted. In  short,  where  the  mischief  will  end,  Omniscience 
only  can  foresee. 

'  My  dear  Brother,  knowing  your  wisdom,  and  also  your  in- 
fluence in  your  Synod,  I  throw  out  these  ideas  in  sacred  confi- 
dence and  in  great  haste.  Let  me  know  your  heart  about 
them.  If  it  diiiers  from  mine,  I  shall  not  love  or  resj^ect  you 
the  less.  Sincerely  your  brother, 

SSam'l.  Miller.' 

Of  course,  this  letter  had  no  reference  to  the  plan  of  ex- 
cision, carried  out  by  the  next  Assembly — apian  excogi- 
tated, under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  after  that  As- 
sembly met.  Division,  as  it  now  presented  itself  to  Dr. 
^filler's  mind,  was  a  totallv  difl'erent  thin^x  from  the  divi- 
sion  which  subsequently  was  accomplished. 

5.     Publications  and  Correspondence. 

About  the  beginning  of  tlic  year  1(S37,  a  small  volume 
was    published  in   New  York,  entitled,  "  A  Plea   for  A^ol- 


320  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CH.  34.  5. 

untary  Societies,  and  a  Defence  of  the  Decisions  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  183(3,  against  the  Strictures  of  the 
Princeton  Review  and  others.  By  a  member  of  the  As- 
sembly." From  this  volume,  while  passing  through  the 
press,  extracts  were  transferred  to  the  columns  of  the 
New  York  Observer  of  the  5th  of  November ;  and  in  the 
same  journal  for  the  3d  of  December,  appeared  a  letter,  of 
some  length,  signed  '' Pacificus,"  from  the  pen  of  Dr. 
Miller,  controverting  the  opinions  advanced  in  those  ex- 
tracts. The  measurable  change  which  had  occurred  in  his 
posture  toward  certain  voluntary  societies  may  be  explained 
by  quoting  a  few  paragraphs  from  this  letter. 

"  I,  for  one,  not  only  consider  private  Christians  as  having  a 
right  to  associate  for  pursuing  an  object  of  Christian  benevo- 
lence, and  for  disposing  of  the  property  which  God  has  given 
them  as  they  think  proper;  but  I  believe  that  great  good  may 
result  from  such  associations  when  rightly  conducted.  It  is  only 
when  they  deny  to  the  church  that  right  which  they  claim  for 
themselves ;  it  is  only  when  they  contend  that  the  church  ought 
to  abandon  this  whole  field  of  Christian  enterprise,  and  yield  it 
up  entirely  to  ihem,  that  I  am  constrained  to  suspect  their 
motives,  and  fear  their  spirit.  Once,  if  I  understand  the  mat- 
ter, the  Home  Missionary  Society  only  contended  for  full  liberty 
to  associate,  and  to  do  all  in  her  power  to  spread  the  gospel 
with  the  aid  of  those  who,  with  herself,  preferred  voluntary  to 
ecclesiastical  organizations.  They  tacitly  agreed,  as  I  sup- 
posed, to  stop  here,  and  let  the  friends  of  the  ecclesiastical 
plan  pursue  their  own  course  without  molestation.  *  ^  But 
the  reasoning  of  your  author  goes  much  further.  He  is  not 
willing  to  concede  the  same  liberty  to  the  church  which  he  and 
his  friends  enjoy.  They  will  not  consent  that  an  ecclesiastical 
judicatory,  sustained  by  those  of  her  members  who  think  with 
her,  should  go  forward  and  comply  with  what  she  deems  her 
]Master's  command.  All — all  action  in  this  hallowed  field  must 
be  surrendered  into  individual  and  irresponsible  hands.  This 
gentleuian  avows  the  opinion,  that  it  is  not  suitable  or  right 
that  the  church,  in  her  organized  capacity,  should  meddle  with 
the  matter  at  all.  He  thinks  that  the  work  can  be  better 
done,  and  ought  all  to  be  done,  by  her  private  members ;  and 
accordingly,  not  very  long  since,  a  zealous  and  active  friend  of 
the  Home  Missionary  Society  openly  and  unequivocally  said 
to  an  Old  School  brother,  "'Our  Society  and  the  Assembly's 
Board  of  Missions  cannot  both  continue  to  live  and  act.  One 
(jr  the  other  must  die.     Of  course,  if  our  society  lives,  your 


1837.]  PULLICATIOXS    AXD    CORRESPONDENCE.  321 

board  must  die."  This  is  now  the  doctrine.  It  was  the 
avowal  and  zealous  maintenance  of  this  doctrine,  Mr.  Editor, 
that  first  opened  my  eyes  as  to  the  real  designs  of  some  of  the 
advocates  of  voluntary  associations.  I  wished  them  well.  I 
nnited  with  them  as  adapted  to  do  great  good  by  stimulating 
the  church  to  greater  zeal  and  activity,  and  supplying  her 
"lack  of  service."  But  when  I  found  the  watchword  to  be, 
"  The  Boards  of  the  Church  must  die!"  I  became  convinced 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  every  good  Presbyterian,  not  to  put 
down  or  even  molest  voluntary  associations,  but  to  cling  with 
new  affection  to  the  Boards  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  to 
sustain  them  with  increasing  zeal.  I  can  truly  say,  that  the 
language  and  conduct  of  the  brethren,  who  have  taken  the 
lead  in  these  associations,  have  done  more,  a  thousand  times,  to 
convince  me  that  many  of  them,  at  least,  cherished  a  deadly 
hostility  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
WTre  determined  to  depress,  if  not  to  prostrate,  her  influence, 
than  all  the  complaints  of  the  ultra-partisans  of  orthodoxy." 

One  of  the  arguments  of  this  author  against  church- 
boards  was,  that  the  possession  and  control  of  so  much 
property,  and  pecuniary  patronage,  could  not  be  safely 
entrusted  to  the  General  Assembly  I  In  replying  to  this, 
Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

"  But  who  does  not  see  that  all  this  writer's  suggestions  about 
undue  and  dangerous  power,  may  be,  with  more  justice,  turned 
against  himself?  There  is  unspeakably  more  danger  from  the 
undefinable  and  uncontrollable  i)ower  of  a  voluntary  associa- 
tion. Who  that  is  at  all  conversant  with  our  voluntary  associ- 
ations does  not  know,  that  each  of  them  may  be  governed  by 
two  or  three  men ;  perhaps  in  some  cases  that  might  be  men- 
tioned, by  one  man ;  that  the  whole  machinery  may  be  in  the 
hands  of  an  adroit  Secretary;  and  that  the  annual  meeting 
may  easily  be  so  managed,  by  the  same  agent,  as  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  excitement  only,  and  not  of  real  counsel  or  re.-<ponsi- 
bilityf  If  there  is  a  power  in  the  United  States  which  the 
religious  community  have  reason  to  regard  with  apprehension, 
it  is  that  of  the  shrewd  and  busy  general  agent  of  a  voluntary 
association,  annually  disposing  of  8100,000;  sending  out  si.c  or 
seven  hundred  minsters  into  every  part  of  the  country;  and 
holding  in  his  hands  the  patronage  on  which  so  many  i)astors 
and  congregations  are  habitually  dependent.  It  was  not  with- 
out reason  that  a  sagacious  civilian  once  said  of  such  a  secre- 
tary, "  Sir,  he  is  virtually  the  Archbishop  of  America."  " 


322  MISCELLANEOUS    MATTERS.  [CH.  34.  5. 

Dr.  Miller's  correspondence  with  Mr.  Nettleton  seems  to 
have  been  just  now  unusually  brisk.  The  following  ex- 
tracts are  from  a  letter  of  the  4th  of  February,  1837. 

'  Your  interesting  and  very  acceptable  favor  of  the  26th 
ultimo,  came  to  hand  four  days  after  its  date.  *  *  I  had 
been,  for  several  weeks,  beginning  to  think  that  it  was  high 
time  to  take  some  measures  for  brightening  the  chain  of  fra- 
ternal intercourse  with  you;  *  *  When  an  indisposition, 
which  has  confined  me  to  my  room  almost  entirely  for  a  fort- 
night past,  came  on,  and  set  aside  most  of  my  plans.  In  this 
situation  your  letter  found  me.  I  am  now,  however,  through 
the  goodness  of  God,  much  better,  and  hope  to  be  going  about 
as  usual  in  two  or  three  days.  *  *  >k 

'  If  I  had  needed  any  proof,  my  dear  Brother,  that  my  be- 
loved Brethren,  Nettleton,  Woods,  Tyler,  Cogswell,  Humphrey, 
Church,  etc.,  so  far  agreed  with  old  school  Presbyterians,  as  to 
have  their  high  affectionate,  and  unwavering  confidence,  this 
letter,  [From  Dr.  Porter  to  Dr.  Beecher,  a  copy  of  which  Mr. 
Nettleton  had  sent,]  and  its  accompanying  comments,  would 
have  entirely  satisfied  me.  But  I  did  not  need  such  proof  I 
have  been  long  persuaded  that  our  old  school  New  England 
brethren  ought  to  be  considered  as  one  with  us,  and  that  the 
cords  offriendship  ought  to  be  drawn  more  closely  every  day.  "^ 

'  By  the  way,  do  you  read  B.  B.  Edwards's  Biblical  Reposi- 
tory? The  last  two  numbers  of  it  have  contained  matter 
which  has  shocked  me.  I  must  give  up  Mr.  Stuart  as  having 
any  pretension  to  orthodoxy.  He  appears  to  me  to  be  fast 
verging  to  the  Rationalism  of  the  Germans.  His  manner  of 
speaking  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  in  the  last  number  but 
one,  convinces  me  that — if  Professor  Stuai't  understands  himself 
— consistency  must  soon  drive  him  away  from  evangelical 
ground. 

'  With  great  affection,  your  friend  and  brother.' 

In  a  letter  of  the  28th  of  April,  Dr.  Miller  said  to  Mr. 
Nettleton, 

*  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Musgrave,  of  Balti- 
more, which  informs  me  that  a  very  late  communication  from 
Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  of  Camden,  announces,  that  you  and 
Dr.  Tyler  propose  to  visit  Princeton,  in  a  few  days,  for  the 
purpose  of  having  a  fraternal  conference  with  a  few  brethren 
who  are  requested  to  meet  here.  "^  *  The  names  of  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  mentioned  are  Dr.  Hoge,  Dr.  W.  A. 
IMcDowell,   Dr.  J.  Breckinridge,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  ^Mr.  Mus- 


1837.]  PUBLICATIONS    AND    CORRESPONDENCE.  323 

grave  and  myself — no  doubt  meaning  to  include  in  the  list  all 
my  beloved  colleagues. 

'  This  proposal  was  perfectly  new  to  us ;  but  it  gives  us 
pleasure.  We  shall  be  cordially  glad  to  see  you  and  your 
venerated  colleague,  and  hope  that  much  good  will  result  from 
the  interview.  :}.  >}:  *  *  * 

'  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  his  communication  to  Mr.  Musgrave, 
spoke  also  of  Dr.  Beecher  as  being  invited,  and  expressed  an 
expectation  that  he  would  be  present.  This  proposal,  I,  for 
one,  could  not  help  regretting.  "^  *  I  should  be  sorry  to  have 
him  introduced  into  a  meeting  intended  to  be  cordial,  confiden- 
tial and  conciliatory.  ^  =}=  ^k  >;= 

'  AVhen  you  arrive  in  Princeton,  please  to  come  immediately 
to  my  house.  *  ^,  ^=  ^^  ^~ 

'  Since  I  wrote  to  you,  I  have  had  a  long  and  tedious  con- 
finement by  sickness.  I  was  three  weeks  confined  to  my  bed, 
and  for  six  weeks  to  my  chamber.  By  the  blessing  of  God,  I 
am  now  not  only  convalescent,  but  tolerably  well  again.  I 
ride  and  walk  out  as  usual,  and  go  to  the  Seminary.  I  am  still, 
however,  weak,  and  am  glad  to  escape  all  labor,  especially  of 
the  mind  and  the  pen,  that  I  possibly  can.' 

Some  of  the  gentlemen  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  letter 
actually  visited  Princeton — Mr.  Nettleton  and  Dr.  Tyler, 
certainly,  and,  doubtless,  some  of  the  others.  There  is 
no  probability,  that  they  avoi  led  all  allusion,  in  their  con- 
ferences, to  church  troubles;  but  the  New  School  commen- 
tators went  widely  astray,  who  declared,  as  if  by  inspira- 
tion, that  the  meeting  was  intended  to  j^repare  business  for 
the  General  Assembly!  In  May  again  Dr.  Miller  wrote 
to  the  same, 

'  In  the  course  of  my  return  from  the  meeting  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board  at  Utica,  two  years  ago  last  October,  I  travelled  in 
the  canal-boat  with  the  Hon.  John  C.  Smith,  late  governor  of 
Connecticut.  We  had  much  conversation  respecting  the  Xew 
Haven  theology,  Dr.  Taylor,  etc.  I  found  him  strongly  op- 
posed to  the  errors  of  that  gentleman,  and  ready  to  express  his 
unfiivorable  opinion  of  them  without  scruple  or  reserve. 
Among  other  things,  I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the 
establishment  of  a  new  seminary  at  East  Windsor.  He  said, 
that  he  did  not  think  it  necessary  or  wise.  He  seemed  to  think 
that  the  true  plan  would  have  been  to  make  an  authoritative 
investigation  into  the  doctrine  and  teaching  of  Dr.  Taylor, 
and,  if  he  was  found  so  erroneous  as  he  thought  he  would  l)e, 


Q 


24  MISCELLANEOUS    3IATTERS.  [CII.  34.   O. 


to  remove  him,  and  thus  supersede  the  necessity  of  another  in- 
stitution. I  remarked,  that  I  thought  such  an  investigation 
had  been  ah'eady  had,  on  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dow ; 
and  that,  strangely  as  it  had  issued,  nothing  more  seemed  to  be 
intended.  I  understood  him  to  say,  that  that  investigation  had 
not  been  conducted  with  sufficient  energy  or  fidelity ;— that 
another  ought  to  be  had,  and  must  and  would  be  had,  which 
could  not  fail  of  bringing  to  light  what  would  show  that  Dr. 
Tavlor  was  unworthy  of  public  confidence,  and  warrant  the 
friends  of  truth  in  going  forward  and  putting  a  sounder  man 
in  his  place.  I  do  not  pretend  to  give  his  language ;  but  sim- 
ply to  state  the  impression  which  what  he  said  made  on  my 
mind.     *     * 

'  P.  S.  Although  there  was  nothing  in  the  foregoing  conver- 
sation which  appeared  to  me,  at  the  time,  confidential ;  and 
certainly  no  intimation  was  given  by  Governor  Smith,  that  he 
was  unwilling  to  have  what  he  said  repeated ;  yet  I  have  such 
a  deep  impression  of  the  impropriety  of  revealing  private  con- 
versation, that  I  must  utterly  and  solemnly  interdict  the  publi- 
cation of  any  part  of  the  above,  or  making  any  public  use  of 
it  whatever.'^ 

In  1837,  Dr.  Miller  contributed  to  Sparks's  Library  of 
American  Biography,  a  Life  of  Jonathan  EdAvards.^  Re- 
ferring to  previous  controversies  between  him  and  Mr. 
Sparks,  Dr.  Sprague  says, 

•'  But  notwithstanding  Dr.  Miller  and  Mr.  Sparks  were  thus 
brought  into  an  attitude  of  theological  antagonism,  it  seems 
not  to  have  affected  their  relations  in  after  life;  for,  in  1837, 
]\Ir.  Sparks  requested  Dr.  Miller  to  write,  for  his  "  American 
Biograi)hy,"  a  memoir  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  one  of  the 
mightiest  champions  of  Orthodoxy ;  and,  as  I  know  from  the 
testimony  of  each  of  them.  Dr.  Miller  disappointed  Mr.  Sparks 
by  readily  acceding  to  his  request,  and  Mr.  Sparks  disappointed 
Dr.  Miller  by  printing  his  manuscript  without  even  asking  for 
the  alteration  of  a  single  word.'^ 

1  Governor  Smith  died  in  1845. 

'- *•  Life  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey;  By 
Samuel  Miller,  IJ.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Gtivern- 
nient  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey." — Vol.  VIII. 
1.S37.— 12uio.     Pp.  25(1. 

•^  8  Sprague's  Annals,  xviii. 


CHAPTER     T  n  I  R  T  Y-  F  I  F  T  H, 

.      CHURCH     REFORM. 


1837,  1838. 


1.     The  General  Assembly  of  1837. 

There  were  few  Old  School  men,  now,  who  did  not 
clearly  discern  the  importance  of  the  crisis  at  hand.  Tiie 
Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  appointed  delegates  to  the 
convention  Avhich  was  to  precede  the  Assembly  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  recommended  to  all  the  churches  within  their 
bounds  to  observe  the  first  day  of  its  meeting — the  second 
Thursday  of  May — as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and 
pra^^er — prayer  that  the  Great  Head  of  Zion  would  restore 
purity  and  peace  to  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Says  Dr. 
Baird,  referring  to  the  interval  between  the  Assembly  of 
1836  and  that  of  1837, 

"In  the  mean  time,  publications  made  by  such  men  as  Dr. 
Miller,  of  Princeton,  Dr.  John  Breckinridge,  and  Dr.  Francis 
McFarlaud,  and  the  editors  of  the  Princeton  Review, — men  of 
the  mildest  spirit  and  most  moderate  sentiments,  attested  the 
reality  and  greatness  of  the  danger,  indicated  the  modified  views 
of  Princeton,  and  did  much  to  unite  men  of  like  sentiments 
and  spirit,  iu  approval  and  support  of  the  decisive  measures 
which  were  about  to  be  emploved  for  the  reformation  of  the 
Church." ' 

It  might  have  been  added  that,  not  improbably,  "Prince- 
ton", meanwhile,  saved  the  Church  from  a  hopeless  seces- 
sion of  the  more  impulsive  Old  School  men,  which  Avould 
have  left  to  the  New  School  such  a  preponderance  as  must 
have  given  them  complete  control  of  everything.  More- 
over, to  justify  before  the  public  and  even  the  Church  itself, 

1  Hist  of  New  School,  114,  410.       • 

325 


326  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  1. 

the  final  measures  of  reform  which  were  adopted — severe, 
as  thej  were,  though  strictly  constitutional  and,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, necessary — the  long-suffering  of  "Princeton", 
its  tender  concern  for  erring  brethren,  and  its  opposition 
to  hasty  and  extreme  attempts,  may  have  been  of*  signal 
advanta'ore.  Before  the  struggle  came  to  an  end,  the  New^ 
School  had  had  full  opportunity — once  and  again  even  in 
the  flush  of  seeming  triumph — to  disclose  their  true  char- 
acter and  their  real  designs:  it  was  at  last  patent,  to  all 
who  were  not  willfully  blind,  that  the  proper  tendency  of 
their  efforts  was  to  corrupt,  as  to  both  creed  and  order,  the 
very  distinctive  essence  of  Presbyterianism. 

Most  obviously  the  New  School  had  not  been  ahvays 
wrong,  nor  the  Old  School  always  right,  in  the  course, 
hitherto,  of  their  controversies  and  conflicts ;  but  the  un- 
speakable importance  of  every  great  principle,  for  which 
the  latter  contended,  the  lapse  of  time  has  but  more  and 
more  clearly  demonstrated.  The  New  School  insisted  on 
the  maintenance  of  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  and  the 
continued  formation  and  existence,  under  it,  of  churches 
not  strictly  Presbyterian,  yet  to  be  represented  in  Presby- 
terian judicatories.  They  insisted  that  the  work  of  mis- 
sions and  education  should  be  conducted,  not  by  church 
agencies,  but  by  irresponsible  voluntary  union  associations. 
Above  all,  they  contended  for  lax  terms  of  subscription  to 
the  Confession  of  Faith — the  reception  of  it  only  for  the 
"substance  of  doctrine",  or  as  containing  "the  fundamen- 
tals of  Christianity",  or  so  far  as  it  agreed,  in  the  opinion 
of  each  subscriber,  with  the  Scriptures.  This  plea  for 
laxity  was,  of  course,  not  w^ithout  an  object.  Under  its 
cloak,  some  of  the  worst  errors  of  New  Haven  ^  had  gained 

^  The  following  remarks  of  Dr.  Fisher,  in  the  New  Englander,  are  a  striking 
exposure,  though  by  a  professed  advocate,  of  New  Haven  errors,  or  Taylor- 
isiu : — 

"  It  is  true  that  Dr.  Taylor  was  a  life-long  opponent  of  the  Princeton  theo- 
logy. Gratuitous  condemnation  for  Adam's  sin  ;  congenital  sin  inflicted  upon 
the  sinless  by  a  judicial  decree  prior  to  their  existence;  sin  meriting  damna- 
tion before  the  least  consciousness  of  a  rule  of  right;  absolute  natural  impo- 
tency  of  the  soul  to  throw  off  the  bondage  to  evil  thus  engendered  in  it ;  literal 
endurance  of  the  legal  penalty  by  Christ,  but  only  for  a  part  of  mankind,  se- 
lected by  mere  will,  without  reference  to  results  in  the  general  good ;  right  of 
this  fraction  to  claim  salvation  as  a  matter  of  strict  justice,  their  punishment 
having  been  endured  ;  conversion  of  this  fraction  by  dint  of  creative  omni- 
potence acting  irresistibly  within  their  souls;  perdition  for  all  the  rest,  judi- 
cially inflicted  for  a  sin  done  before  they  were  created,  for  propagated  sin 


1837.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  327 

currency,  liad  been  sheltered  and  encouraged,  and  li:id  es- 
caped effective  rebuke.  In  every  case,  in  which  discipline 
for  such  errors  had  been  attempted,  the  New  School  party 
had  made  the  cause  of  the  accused  their  own,  and  had  ear- 
nestly resisted  the  attempt.  No  doubt,  their  repeated  suc- 
cesses in  this  course  of  resistance  might  be  attributed,  im- 
mediately, to  the  repeated  technical  mistakes  of  their  op- 
ponents ;  but  as  little  doubt  is  there,  that  they  were  resolved 
upon  securing,  if  possible,  entire  immunity  for  the  errors 

which  they  coukl  not  prevent,  and  for  not  believing  in  an  atonement  never 
jirovided  for  them,  and  when  all  power  of  thus  believing  bad  been  extirpated 
trim  their  souls,  through  the  necessary  effect  of  au  ancestor's  transgression  ; 
this  system  Dr,  Taylor  thought,  in  its  logical  implications,  blots  out  human 
probation,  and  with  it  the  moral  government  of  God."'  October,  1S6S.  Pp. 
700,  1. 

Of  course,  it  is  old  Augustinianism  or  Calvinism,  the  system  of  the  West- 
minster standards,  the  system  which  was  universally  received  in  the  early  New 
England  churches,  the  system  which  is  now  taught  in  every  Old  School  semi- 
nary in  the  land,  and  to  which  every  Presb3-terian  minister  regularly  ordained 
subscribes,  which,  as  "  Princeton  theology",  is  thus  caricatured,  that  it  may  be 
branded  a  monster.  Yet  the  men  who  write  thus,  or  approve  of  what  is  thus 
written,  have  alwaj'S  claimed  to  be  consistent  Calvinists !  Certainly  there  are 
Calvinists,  that  can  make  out.  too,  for  themselves,  a  legitimate  doctrinal  suc- 
cession, who,  had  thej'  met  with  the  passage  above  quoted,  without  knowing 
its  author,  would  have  said,  unhesitatingly,  ''An  enemy  hath  done  this" : 
surely  it  is  the  work  of  a  Soeinian,  or  infidel:  even  a  sober-minded  Arminian 
could  not  have  so  written.  The  truth  is,  that  Taylorism,  in  its  very  genesis, 
was  a  concession  to  the  Socinians  of  Xew  EnglanJ — a  boasted  discovery  of  a 
better  way  to  meet  their  objections  than  the  way  of  the  old  Puritan  theology: 
and  the  Socinians  hailed  the  teachings  of  Mr.  Barnes  as  an  approach  to  their 
own  system.  The  Christian  Examiner,  a  leading  Unitarian  j»eriodical,  said  of  his 
Notes,  ''On  the  atonement,  our  author's  views  are  far  in  advance  of  those  of  the 
church  to  which  he  belongs.  Though  he  maintains  that  Christ  was,  in  some 
sense,  a 'substitute  in  the  place  of  sinners',  he  denies  a  strictly  and  fully  vicarious 
atonement,  and  makes  the  Savi'<ur's  death  important  chiefly  as  an  illustration  nt 
the  inherent  and  essential  connexion  between  sin  and  suffering."  "  On  the  sub- 
ject of  mau's  nature,  capacities  and  duty,  our  author  is  sound  and  lucid.  The  idea 
of  hereditary  depravity  he  spurns,  as  unworth}'  even  a  passing  notice.  He  as- 
serts repeatedly,  that  men  sin  only  iu  their  own  peraonc,  sin  theniielrei,  as,  in- 
deed, how  can  they  sin  in  any  other  way  /  The  imputation  of  Adam's  trans- 
gression, he  treats  as  a  scholastic  absurdity.  Of  the  figment  of  Adam's  fede- 
ral headship,  and  the  condemnation  of  his  posterity  for  partnership  in  his  sin, 
Mr.  Barnes  says,  '  there  is  not  one  word  (»f  it  in  the  Bible.'  It  is  a  mere  phi- 
losophical theory,  an  introduction  of  a  speculation  into  theology,  with  an  at- 
tempt to  explain  what  the  Bible  has  left  uuexjdained."  "  In  conclusion,  we 
would  say,  that  while  our  orthodox  brethren  jmblish,  and  circulate,  and  receive 
with  favour  such  books  as  these  'Notes',  we  most  cordially  extend  to  them  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship,  even  though  they  refuse  to  return  it.  We  regard 
tliem  as  fellow-labourers  with  us  for  the  overthrow  of  time-hallowed  absurdi- 
ties, for  the  cleansing  of  the  Christian  creed  -from  whatever  defileth  and  maketh 
a  lie.'  "     March,  ls3rt.  i>j>.  69,  70. 

The  reformers  of  our  church,  in  lSn7,  agreed,  in  their  opinion  of  Taylorism. 
with  the  (Unitarian)  Christian  Examiner,  and  now.  Dr.  Fisher.  This  should 
be  taken  into  account  in  judging  of  their  acts.  See  the  Biblical  Repertory, 
Januar3-,  ISOy,  pp.  144-UO. 


328  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  1. 

in  question.  To  accomplish  their  purpose,  presbyteries, 
and  at  least  one  synod,  had  been  constructed,  according  to 
elective  affinity  and  otherwise,  which,  with  all  the  decidedly 
New  School  judicatories,  not  only  shielded  the  propagators 
of  false  doctrine,  but  were  also  constantly  increasing  their 
numbers,  by  lax  ordinations,  and  the  easy,  unquestioning 
reception  of  men  of  erroneous  views,  particularly  from 
amonn-  the  Congregationalists.  To  maintain  their  power 
in  the  Church  at  large,  they  were  notoriously  making  use 
of  the  American  Education  Society  to  train  New  School 
ministers,  and  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
to  send  them  out,  and  plant  them  just  where  they  might 
most  effectually  hold  the  balance  of  ecclesiastical  power; 
and,  to  secure  majorities  in  the  General  Assembly,  they 
were  multiplying  small  presbyteries,  so  as  to  obtain  an  un- 
due representation  in  that  body. 

The  preparatory  convention  really  and  effectively  repre- 
sented the  Old  School  party,  w^hich  had  never  before  been 
so  thoroughly  aroused  and  united  as  now.  A  "■  Testimony 
and  Memorial''  was  prepared  for  presentation  to  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  which  carried  out  substantially  the  reforms 
proposed  l^y  this  document;  though  in  a  way,  as  to  some 
points,  and  with  a  thoroughness,  that  probably  no  one  had 
contemplated,  until  little  by  little,  out  of  the  exigencies  of 
the  case,  the  plan  evolved  itself,  and  stood  forth  complete. 
The  "statement  of  prevalent  errors,  [against  wdiich  the 
convention  testified,]  after  being  framed  by  the  committee, 
was,  at  their  request,  carefully  revised  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Miller,  than  whom  no  man  in  the  Church  was  less  open  to 
the  charge  of  giving  countenance  to  false  accusations,  or 
imaginary  alarms."^ 

In  the  Assembly,  there  proved  to  be  a  very  decided  Old 
School  majority.  The  great  decisive  measures  adopted  need 
alone  be  here  noticed.  The  Plan  of  Union,  by  a  vote  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-three  to  one  hundred  and  ten  was  abro- 
gated. Then,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  New  School,  a  commit- 
tee of  ten — five  from  each  party — the  majority  and  minority 
— was  appointed  to  negotiate  for  a  voluntary,  peaceable  divi- 
sion of  the  Church.  Tliey  could  not  agree:  the  simple  fact  was, 
that  the  New  School  were  determined  to  consent  to  nothing 

1  Baird'rf  Hist,  of  Xew  School,  521. 


1837.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  329 

final — nothing  tliat  would  not  leave  all  power  in  the  hand  of 
a  majority,  could  they  secure  it,  in  the  Assembly  of  1838,  to 
reverse  the  action  of  that  of  1837,  and  put  them  again  in 
the  position  of  command.  To  this,  of  course,  the  Old 
School  would  not  listen ;  and  they  now  proceeded  to  de- 
clare the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve  ''to  be  no  lono-er 
a  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America." 

What  was  this  Synod,  and  what,  if  any,  the  defensible 
ground  of  its   being   thus   disowned,  or,  to   use  a  current, 
though  not  a  very  happy,  term,  excluded  ?     It  had  groAvn 
up,  confessedly,  under  the  operations  of  the  Plan  of  Union, 
in  Ohio — the  region  known  as  the  Western  Reserve.    That 
plan  had  provided,  in  utter,  though  inconsiderate,  disregard 
of  the  Constitution,  that,  in  new  settlements,  a  church  com- 
posed partly  of  Congregationalists,  and  partly  of  Presby- 
terians, might  govern  themselves  by  a  standing  committee, 
instead  of  a  bench  of  elders;  and  that  a  delegate  from  this 
committee  might  sit,  as  an  elder,  in  Presbytery.     Unhap- 
pily, settlements  never  became  so  old,  that  the  irregularity 
was  not  pleaded  for  and  continued;  committee-men,  openly 
or  covertly,  forced  their  way  into  synods  and  the  General 
Assembly;  and  what  was  clearly  unconstitutional  in  itself 
became,  from  grievous  abuse,  a  hot-bed  of  evil  things.    Of 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  churches  belonging  to 
the    Synod  of  Western    Reserve,  only    about    thirty  were 
Presbyterian;  the  rest  were  all  of  the  mixed  character,  de- 
rived from  the  Plan  of  Union ;  yet  were  regularly  repre- 
sented in  Presbytery,   Synod  and  General  Assembly — in 
the   two   former   always   by  committee-men,  in   the  latter, 
sometimes  in  the  same  way,  at  other  times  by  ruling  elders, 
in  the  choice  of  whom,  however,  committee-men  must  al- 
ways have  taken  an  influential  part.  This  Synod  was  a  strong- 
hold of  Xew   Schoolism,  and  one  of  those  which  was  ex- 
pected to  contribute  effectively  to  the  maintenance  of  New 
School  majorities  in  the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church. 

Each  presbytery,  according  to  the  Constitution,  must  be 
composed  of  at  least  three  ministers,  and  each  may  send  to 
the  General  Assembly  two  commissioners.  A  presbytery 
containing  over  twenty-four  ministers  may  double,  and, 
over  forty-eight,  triple,  its  representation;  and  may  enlarge 
Vol.  IL— 27 


330  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  1. 

it  in  the  like  proportion,  for  greater  numbers.  Such  a 
ratio  evidently  gives  an  advantage  to  small  presbyteries  : 
that  of  three  ministers  has  an  equal  influence  with  that  of 
twenty-four.  Now,  in  1836,  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey, 
with  six  presbyteries  and  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  min- 
isters, was  entitled  to  twenty  commissioners;  while  the  Synod 
of  Western  Reserve,  with  five  presbyteries  and  one  hundred 
and  seven  ministers,  was  entitled  to  fourteen.  But,  in  1837, 
the  latter,  by  sub-divisions,  appeared  with  eight  presbyteries, 
claiminor  an  equal  representation  with  those  of  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey,  though  with  but  a  trifling  increase  of  the 
numbers  represented.^  The  unfairness  of  such  manage- 
ment was,  of  course,  greatly  magnified  by  the  fact,  that  the 
Synod  of  Western  Reserve  embraced  but  thirty  Presby- 
terian churches ;  and  the  case  of  this  Synod,  as  a  flagrant 
one,  was  made  a  test  of  the  General  Assembly's  judgment 
upon  the  principle  of  the  disowning  acts.  Subsequently, 
the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee  were  in  like 
manner  disowned. 

Of  course,  reasons  given  for  an  act  are  of  no  consequence, 
if  the  act  be,  in  itse'f,  right.  The  Synod  of  Western  Re- 
serve was  "declared  to  be  no  lo7iger  a  part  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church",  and  this  was  attributed  to  "the  operation 
of  the  abrogation  of  the  Plan  of  Union."  The  other 
Synods,  by  the  light  elicited  from  further  consideration 
and  discussion,  were  treated  as  never  having  been  properly 
in  connexion  with  the  church,  because  organized  under  a 
plan  unconstitutional,  and  void.  The  latter  was,  doubtless, 
the  more  logical  representation  of  the  case;  which,  how- 
ever, by  the  acts  themselves,  not  the  logic  of  the  enactors, 
was  to  be  adjudged.  Perhaps  a  more  plainly  irrefragable 
statement  is,  that,  under  a  strict  Presbyterian  Constitution, 
bodies  originally  organized  in  large  part  of  Congregational 
elements  could  not  be  proper  Presbyterian  bodies,  or  have 
any  legal  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  Assembly  provided  fully  for  the  relations  of  all 
ministers,  churches,  and  even  presbyteries,  embraced  with- 
in the  disowned  Synods,  which  could  make  out  a  true  Pres- 

^  It  may  be  added,  that  owing  to  their  hasty,  imperfect  organization,  its 
being  judged  expedient  to  keep  information  baclc,  or  something  else,  no  one 
of  the  three  new  presbyteries  of  this  Synod  sent  any  proper  report  to  the 
General  Assembly. 


1837.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  331 

byterian  character.  Prevalent  errors  and  disorders  were 
specified  and  condemned;  church  judicatories  were  admon- 
ished to  correct  tliem;  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Phihidel- 
phia  was  dissolved;  a  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  es- 
tablished; the  organization  and  operations  of  the  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society,  and  American  Education 
Society  were  pronounced  "exceedingly  injurious  to  the 
peace  and  purity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church",  within 
which  it  was  recommended  that  their  operations  should 
cease;  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly  and  its  clerks  were 
directed,  and  the  latter  pledged  themselves,  to  carry  out, 
within  their  respective  spheres,  the  reforming  measures 
which  had  been  adopted;  a  pastoral  letter  was  addressed  to 
the  churches  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
a  circular  letter  to  all  other  churches,  justifying  those  mea- 
sures as  demanded  by  extraordinary  circumstances ;  a  letter 
also  to  the  disowned  Synods.  The  circular  was,  in  sub- 
stance, written  by  Dr.  Miller,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Robert 
J.  Breckinridge,  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
prepare  it,  who  sent  a  special  messenger  to  Princeton,  in 
baste,  to  secure  his  object.  Writing  to  Dr.  Miller,  after- 
ward, in  regard  to  this  paper.  Dr.  Breckinridge  remarked^ 

"You  will  perceive  that  we  were  obliged  considerably  to 
curtail  the  admirable  letter  you  were  good  enough  to  send  us, 
especially  the  latter,  and,  if  anything,  most  striking  part.  This 
resulted  from  some  unaccountable  mistake.  A  committee,  con- 
sisting of  Dr.  Alexander,  Dr.  Baxter  and  another,  was  appoint- 
ed to  write  2i pastoral  letter  to  our  own  churches;  one,  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  Dr.  Leland  and  another,  to  write  a  letter  to  the 
synods  declared  out  of  our  communion ;  and  a  third,  of  Mr. 
Plumer,  Mr.  W.  Latta  and  myself,  to  write  a  circular  Epistle 
to  all  other  denominations,  and  esjDecially  to  those  with  whom 
we  are  in  correspondence.  It  was  this  last  form  of  the  three, 
which  we  desired  your  letter  to  assume;  but  it  came  to  us  under 
the  first  form ;  and  that  after  the  pastoral  letter  had  been  read 
to  the  Assembly,  and  only  on  the  forenoon  of  the  day  on  which 
the  body  finally  adjourned.  In  this  state  of  the  case,  the  com- 
mittee was  obliged  to  take  the  great  and  painful  liberty  of 
twisting  your  fine  paper  into  a  new  aspect,  by  leaving  out  parts, 
by  slightly  changing  other  parts,  and  by  adding  a  few  jiara- 
graphs  at  the  conclusion.  This  became  the  more  serious  to  us, 
because  the  paper,  even  thus  mutilated,  commanded  such  warm 
and  general  applause,  when  read,  that  we  were  obliged,  in  self- 


332  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  2. 

defence,  immediately  to  avow  the  real  author.  I  think,  ray 
dear  Sir,  a  more  acceptable  and  highly  useful  tract  has  rarely 
issued  from  your  pen ;  and  this,  I  think,  is  also  the  comn^on 
opinion  amongst  the  friends  of  truth  in  our  Church.' 

2.     After  the  Assembly. 

The  general  measures  of  this  reforming  Assembly  met 
with  Dr.  Miller's  entire  approbation.  Their  necessity  had, 
at  length,  become  too  apparent  to  be  questioned.  They 
gave,  to  be  sure,  a  great  shock  to  the  body  ecclesiastical, 
the  effects  of  which,  however,  it  proved  able  to  bear  and 
soon  to  overcome.  To  judge  of  them  fairly,  we  must  re- 
member that  strong  and  ably  directed  forces  had  well  nigh 
accomplished  what  Old  School  men  verily  believed  must, 
without  extraordinary  divine  interposition,  result  in  the 
ruin  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  advocates  of  error 
and  of  lax  terms  of  subscription,  the  advocates  of  volunta- 
ry societies,  and  the  advocates  of  a  Congregationalizing 
policy  were  in  the  closest  alliance,  and  with  their  threefold 
cord  would  soon  have  bound  Presbyterianism  so  fast,  that 
no  power  of  successful  resistance  would  have  remained. 
And,  no  doubt,  to  ultra  men,  so  called,  the  Church  was 
mainly  indebted,  under  God,  for  her  deliverance.  The 
emergency  demanded  them.  But  many  less  stern  and  ad- 
venturous than  they  hailed  their  achievements  with  unfeigned 
joy.     Dr.  Sprague  says, 

"  Dr.  Miller  was  an  honest,  vigilant  and  devoted  friend  of 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  true  interests  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  In  the  controversy  which  issued  in  its  division  he 
was  inflexibly  with  the  Old  School,  though  he  had  many  warm 
friends  on  the  other  side  with  whom  he  continued  to  maintain 
the  most  friendly  relations."  ^ 

The  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  adopted  the  report 
of  a  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Miller  was  chairman,  justify- 
ing fully  the  acts  of  disownment,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Synods  in  question  had  never  had  any  proper  constitu- 
tional connexion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  had 
been  alleged,  that  portions  of  some  of  the  disowned  bodies 
owed  their  ecclesiastical  status,  not  to  the  Plan  of  Union  of 
1801,  but  to  a  plan  of  1808,  which  had  not  been  formally 

^  3  Sprague's  Annals,  604. 


1837.]  AFTER    THE    ASSEMBLY.  333 

abrogated.  The  report  declared  the  hitter  plan  even  more 
objectionable  than  the  former,  as  having  admitted  directly 
into  the  Presbyterian  body  a  large  number  of  Congrega- 
tional churches  already  organized,  with  their  ministers, 
neither  churches  nor  ministers  being  required  to  conform 
to  the  Presbyterian  standards.  When  the  acts  of  the  As- 
sembly came  before  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  Dr.  Miller 
constantly  voted  to  sustain  those  acts,  but,  towards  the 
Presbyteries  which  hesitated  to  fulfill  their  requirements, 
was  in  favour  of  an  indulgent  course,  allowing  them  another 
year  for  consideration.  The  next  spring,  the  clerk  of 
Synod  presented  its  minutes  for  revision  to  the  New  School 
Assembly;  but  the  Synod  promptly  ordered  the  leaf,  on 
whicli  that  Assembly  had  certified  its  approval,  to  be  re- 
moved; and  now  took  decided  steps,  Dr.  Miller  heartily 
concurring,  for  separating  from  itself  those  presbyteries 
which  adliered  to  the  New  School  secession. 

Writing  to  Dr.  Sprague,  on  the  7th  of  August,  Dr. 
Miller  said, 

*I  feel  persuaded,  that,  however  repulsive  or  indefensible 
those  acts  may  now  appear,  the  more  they  are  reflected  on,  and 
the  more  their  bearings  and  consequences  may  disclose  them- 
selves, the  more  will  sound  and  judicious  men  be  reconciled  to 
them.  I  do  believe,  that,  long  before  the  meeting  of  the  next 
Assembly,  the  friends  of  truth  and  order  will  be  convinced  that 
the  last  Assembly  had  no  other  method  of  effectually  putting 
an  end  to  controversy,  and  restoring  harmony  to  our  beloved 
church,  than  by  taking  the  course  which  they  did — to  disown, 
and  declare  no  longer  connected  with  them,  the  morbid  mem- 
bers of  the  body. 

*  To  retrace  our  steps,  and  take  back  the  New  School  presby- 
teries, which  have  been  declared  no  longer  to  belong  to  us, 
would  not  only  be  a  retrograde  movement,  but  would  be,  also, 
in  my  opinion,  to  fix  on  ourselves,  another  seven  years'  con- 
flict, with  all  its  deplorable  evils.' 

It  has  often  been  asserted  and  persistently  repeated,  as 
an  overwhelming  reproach  to  the  Old  School  leaders  in  the 
controversies  and  measures  which  resulted  in  the  division 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  their  real  object  was 
j^ower — power  to  control  either  the  whole  Church,  or  a 
divided  portion.  Of  course  it  was;  but  was  this  a  just 
ground    of    reproach?     Much    eloquent   declamation    was 


334  CH-URCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  2. 

wasted  in  the  endeavour  to  fix  upon  them  a  charge  which 
they  never  denied.  Their  desire,  nay,  their  determination, 
to  secure  all  the  power  that  they  could,  lawfully,  for  the 
reformation  and  purification  of  the  Church,  they  never 
disoruised.  They  fully  believed  that  the  doctrines,  order, 
purity,  and  real  prosperity  of  their  beloved  Zion  were  en- 
dangered by  the  course  of  the  New  School;  and  were  cer- 
tainly bound  to  employ  all  fair  and  christian  means  to  ob- 
tain whatever  power  was  necessary  to  avert  the  threatened 
evil.  As  to  what  means  were  fair  and  christian,  opponents, 
in  such  circumstances,  were  not  likely  to  be  agreed ;  and, 
on  this  score,  there  were  criminations  and  recriminations 
which  cannot  here  be  noticed;  but,  to  simplify  the  issue, 
let  it  be  admitted,  that  for  each  party  to  strive  for  the 
mastery,  to  the  extent  of  its  honest  convictions,  was  not  in 
itself  blameworthy — nay,  was  required  by  simple  fidelity 
to  its  distinctive  principles.  The  striving  was  clearly  right 
in  itself.  Did  each  party  "strive  lawfully?"  was,  indeed, 
an  important  question  ;  and  still  more  important  was  it  to 
decide,  which  was,  where  both  could  not  be,  right  as  to  the 
grand  principles  of  creed  and  church-order  which  distin- 
guished them.  Certain  it  is,  that  it  was  not  the  ambition 
of  the  Old  School  to  rule  the  New,  but  to  be  entirely  se- 
parated from  the  latter  was  their  ardent  desire. 

On  the  31st  of  August  appeared  the  first  number  of  the 
"Watchman  of  the  South",  a  weekly  religious  newspaper 
published  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  under  the  able  manage- 
ment of  the  Rev.  William  S.  Plumer  as  editor.  This  num- 
ber contained  a  letter  from  Dr.  Miller,  defendino-  the  Old 
School  against  some  of  the  charges  of  their  opponents; 
and  he  afterward,  from  time  to  time,  continued  his  contri- 
butions to  the  paper,  for  the  editor  of  which,  an  alumnus 
of  the  Seminary,  he  had  long  entertained  an  afi'ectionate 
regard. 

In  a  letter  of  the  29th  of  September.  Dr.  Miller  says  to 
Mrs.  Wales, 

*I  had  a  severe  and  very  protracted  fit  of  sickness  in  the 
winter,  which  confined  me  to  my  room  for  nearly  three  months. 
This  threw  me  back  in  my  work  as  professor,  gave  rise  to  a 
great  accumulation  of  unanswered  letters,  and  placed  every- 
thing in  arrears.     I  have  reason  to  be  thankful,  however,  that 


1837.]  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  335 

my  health  is  now  restored  to  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  good  a 
state  as  before  my  illness ;  so  that  I  am  able  to  go  on  as  usual 
with  my  official  duties.' 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  had,  in  183(3,  requested  Dr. 
Miller  to  preach  before  them,  at  their  next  session,  upon 
the  dangers  of  educating  Protestant  children  in  Roman 
Catholic  institutions.  He  accordingly  preached  before 
that  judicatory,  in  Baltimore,  and,  at  the  solicitation  of 
friends  in  New  York  city,  repeated  there  his  sermon,  which 
the  Synod  afterwards  published.^ 

Dr.  Miller,  amidst  the  labours  of  this  year,  found  time 
for  but  one  short  article  of  eight  pages,  for  the  Biblical 
Repertory — a  review  of  a  sermon,  entitled  ''  Decline  of 
Religion,  and  its  Causes,"^  by  the  Rev.  Evan  M.  Johnson, 
Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Brooklyn.  Assuming  a 
sad  decline  of  relii2;ion  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  Johnson 
sagely  attributed  it  to  the  prevailing  neglect,  by  the  seetSy 
of  the  paramount  claims  of  the  Episcopal  Church  ;  to  re- 
ligious controversy,  especially  between  the  Old  and  New 
School  Presbyterians  ;  to  the  "  combined  effort  to  suppress 
Popery  in  our  country;"  to  the  temperance  societies;  and 
to  "the  revival  system," — truly  a  nice  little  nest  of  buz- 
zing, stinging  insects  into  which  to  thrust  a  stout,  sharp 
Puritan  stick. 

3.     Foreign  Missions. 

The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  established  bv  the  Gen- 
eral  Assembly  fulfilled,  as  it  had  been  authorized  to  do, 
the  contract  formerly  made  with  The  Western  Foreign 
Missionary  Society.  The  new  organization  held  its  first 
meeting  at  Baltimore,  on  the  31st  of  October,  when  tlio 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  also  met  in  that  city.  Dr.  Miller 
was  chosen  President  of  the  Board,  and  continued  to  pre- 
si<le  over  it,  whenever  he  could  be  present,  until  his  death. 
He  was  now  appointed  to  preach  before  it,  in  Philadelphia, 

i"The  Dangers  of  Education  in  Roman  Catholic  Seminaries.  A  Sermon, 
delivered  V)y  Request,  before  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  City  of  Balti- 
more, October  31,  1837;  and  afterwards  in  the  City  of  New  York,  November 
26,  1837.  (Published  by  Request  of  the  Synod.)  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D., 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton.  Third  Thousand.  Baltimore  :  1838." — Deuteronomy 
vi.  6,  7. — Svo.     Pp.  15. 

2  P.  688. 


336  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.   35.   3. 

during  the  sessions  of  the  next  Assembly.  To  the  Hon. 
Walter  Lowrie,  Corresponding  Secretary,  he  wrote  on  the 
18th  of  November, 

'I  know  that  you  will  pardon  me  for  making  any  suggestions 
to  yourself  and  the  Executive  Committee,  which  may  possibly 
tend,  in  the  least  degree,  to  forward  the  great  object  of  our 
Missionary  Board.  I  do  it  with  the  freedom  of  a  brother,  and 
recollecting  that,  although,  standing  at  the  centre  of  informa- 
tion, you  can  judge  of  the  wisdom  of  measures  better  than  I 
can,  yet  a  hint  concerning  a  plan  that  is  not  feasible,  may 
sometimes  put  wiser  men  on  a  track  which  is  more  feasible,  and 
far  more  important.' 

Dr.  Miller  first  suggests  the  publication  of  a  brief  news- 
paper notice  of  the  meeting  and  proceedings  in  Baltimore, 
in  anticipation  of  the  fuller  account  to  be  issued  in  pamph- 
let form,  and  for  the  thousands  who  would  never  see  the 
latter.     He  adds, 

'  It  seems  to  me  that  our  Yankee  brethren  set  us  a  good  ex- 
ample in  keeping  their  Board  and  its  doings,  in  one  form  or 
another,  constantly  before  the  public  mind.  They  take  good 
care  not  to  suffer  themselves  to  be  forgotten.' 

He  then  recommends  the  appointment  of  an  assistant 
secretary,  or  general  agent — if  possible  a  preacher;  the 
sending  of  a  well-qualified  missionary  to  France;  and  an 
effort  for  Africa,  in  connexion  with  the  Colonization  cause; 
saying,  in  conclusion,  '  Receive  these  suggestions  as  flowing 
from  the  fulness  of  a  heart  deeply  solicitous  for  your  suc- 
cess, and  which  daily  prays  for  it.' 

To  Dr.  Green  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  8th  of  January, 
1838, 

'  *  *  when  the  transfer  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  was  made  to  the  American  Board,  I  do  not  now  re- 
member. 

'  One  thing,  I  hope,  will  be  somewhere  recorded,  in  perpetuam 
rei  memoriam — that,  while  a  debt  of  near  $10,000  was  transferred 
by  the  former  to  the  latter;  at  the  same  time  property  to  that 
amount  in  full,  if  not  more,  was  transferred  with  it.  I  remem- 
ber, most  distinctly,  to  have  heard  Mr.  Evarts  say,  that  his 
board  had  received  from  the  U.  F.  M.  S.  such  an  amount  of 
property,  as  ought  to  prevent  any  mention's  ever  being  made 
of  the  debt  transferred  as  being  a  burden.  There  is  an  "im- 
mense littleness,"  in  certain  quarters,  which,  in  my  opinion, 
ought  to  be  rebuked,  in  anticipation,  by  this  statement. 


1838.]  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.     •  337 

'I  rejoice  to  hear,  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  Dr.  Withcrspoon's 
life  and  works  being  soon  given  to  the  public.  By  the  way, 
do  you  not  owe  it  to  your  friends,  and  to  those  who  shall  come 
after  you,  to  leave  some  ample  materials  for  your  own  life?  I 
take  much  interest  in  this  thing.  That  it  will  be  called  for 
cannot  be  doubted;  and  that  some  one  of  your  survivors, 
worthy  of  the  undertaking,  and  who  will  engage  in  it  con  amove, 
will  stand  ready  to  enterprise  it,  I  do  earnestly  hope. 

'Though   my  own  health   is  remarkably  good,  for  whir-h  I 
have  reason  to  be  daily  and  hourly  thankful,  yet,  in  my  sixty- 
ninth  year,  I  feel  that  whatever  I  do  must  be  done  quickly. 
*I  am,  Rev'd  and  dear  Sir,  most  respectfully 

'and  afl'ectionately,  your  l3rother, 

'Rev.  Dr.  Green.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

According  to  appointment,  Dr.  Miller  preached  the  first 
sermon  before  the  New  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  Phila- 
delphia, while  the  Assembly  was  in  session.  In  this 
discourse,  which  was  published,^  the  following  passages 
occur  : — 

"We  are  assembled,  as  the  representatives  of  our  beloved 
Church,  to  recognize  for  ourselves,  and  to  endeavour  to  impress 
upon  the  minds  of  others,  the  duty  and  importance  of  engaging 
with  zeal,  as  a  Church,  in  the  great  cause  of  Foreign  Missions. 
It  is  well  known  to  those  whom  I  now  address,  that  a  large 
number  of  the  friends  of  truth  and  order  in  our  body,  have 
been  earnestly  desiring,  for  a  number  of  years  past,  to  engage 
in  this  work  in  an  ecclesiastical  capacity.  After  many  a  pain- 
ful and  unsuccessful  struggle  to  attain  the  privilege,  God  has 
been  pleased,  at  length,  to  grant  us  the  desire  of  our  hearts. 
Need  I  say,  Christian  brethren,  that  the  history  of  the  conflict 
by  which  we  have  gained  the  position  which  we  now  occupy, 
is  deeply  interesting,  and  greatly  increases  our  responsibility? 
Have  we  been  contending  for  a  mere  nominal  honor;  or  for  a 
precious,  practical  privilege?  Surely  every  consideration  of 
worldly  consistency,  as  well  as  of  sanctified  principle,  calls 
upon  us  to  arise  in  all  the  strength  that  God  may  give  us,  and 
to  pursue  in  good  earnest  the  object  which  we  profess  to  love, 
and  which  we  have  solicited  the  power  of  pursuing.  Oh,  let 
us  not  contradict  or  disgrace  our  oft-repeated  profession.  Let 
us  not  manifest  by  our  indolence,  now  that  the  point  is  attained, 

l"Zion  called  upon  to  Awake.  A  Sermon  preached  in  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Philadelphia.  May  22,  1S:5S.  before  the  Hoard  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Presbvtorian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  By 
Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  Princeton,  N.  J.  New  York:  1838."— Isaiah  lii.  1.— Svo.  Pp.  20. 


CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  4. 

that  our  object  was,  not  to  perforin  the  work,  but  to  gain  the 
victory.  Let  us  rather  testify,  by  our  zeal,  diligence  and  energy 
in  this  cause,  that  the  love  of  Christ  does  indeed  constrain  us ; 
that  the  love  of  souls  does  indeed  fill  our  hearts ;  and  that  we 
regard  it  as  our  highest  privilege  to  be  engaged  in  the  great 
work  of  converting  the  world  to  God. 

"That  we  have  been,  as  a  Church,  greatly  and  deplorably 
remiss  in  regard  to  this  duty,  we  must  all  acknowledge.  And 
how  far  a  righteous  God  may  have  permitted,  as  a  judgment 
for  this  criminal  remissness,  so  much  coldness,  and  leanness, 
and  error,  and  strife,  to  enter  and  distress  our  Zion,  I  pretend 
not  to  decide.  I  can  only  say  that  the  very  same  effects  fol- 
lowed the  same  neglect  of  missionary  efforts,  on  the  part  of  the 
Church,  sixteen  hundred  years  ago ;  and  that  similar  results 
may,  in  all  similar  circumstances,  be  expected.  And  although 
we  have  begun  to  arouse  ourselves,  and  to  act  in  this  great  field 
of  benevolence,  we  are  yet  but  half  awake.  ^  *  Oh,  that 
another  Isaiah  might  be  raised  up — another  Isaiah  in  spirit  and 
in  eloquence — to  go  forth  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land,  proclaiming  again  in  the  language  of  our  text, 
"Awake !  awake !  O  Zion !  put  on  thy  strength."  "  ^ 

Such  was  the  spirit  in  which  good  men  rejoiced  and  con- 
gratulated one  another,  over  the  victory  which  they  believed 
they  had  won  for  Christ  and  for  his  Church.  Their  joy 
was  by  no  means  unmingled  with  sorrow;  yet  it  was  a  "joy 
of  the  Lord,"  which  proved  to  be  their  strength.  The 
history  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  from  that  begin- 
ning, is  a  history  which,  at  least,  has  fully  justified  the 
principles  and  struggles  of  its  founders ;  while  its  very  op- 
ponents have  abandoned  the  ground  of  their  opposition. 

4.   The  General  Assembly  of  1838. 

The  New  School  party,  intent  upon  retrieving  its  for- 
tunes, was  by  no  means  a  unit  in  opinion  as  to  the  mea- 
sures necessary  for  this  purpose.  It  was  easy  to  accuse  the 
Old  School,  as  they  did,  of  an  unholy  alliance  with  the 
slave-power  in  the  Church;  of  lust  for  authority;  of  An- 
tinomianism  and  High-churchism ;  of  being  the  ''New  Dis- 
cipline", and  "New  Basis"  party;  of  bigotry,  malignity, 
and  all  unrighteousness;  of  having  violated  the  Constitu- 
tion, forfeited  the  charter  of  the  Assembly,  and  dissolved 

1  Pp.  IG,  17. 


1838.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  339 

the  Church.  It  was  not,  however,  quite  so  easy  to  deter- 
mine how  all  this  iniquity  was  to  be  counteracted  and  pun- 
ished. But  it  was  finally  agreed,  that  commissioners  regu- 
larly appointed  by  the  disowned  presbyteries  must  present 
themselves,  at  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  of  the  next 
General  Assembly,  and  formally  claim  their  seats.  If 
denied,  they  were  to  transfer  the  question  of  their  rights, 
as  most  properly  they  might,  and  as,  where  civil  interests 
were  involved,  they  certainly  could,  into  the  civil  courts, 
for  adjudication.  The  particular  plan,  however,  which  was 
finally  decided  upon  for  putting  the  case  in  a  legal  form 
for  trial,  was,  probably,  understood  by  a  few  of  the  leaders, 
alone,  and  their  counsel ;  and,  for  reasons  to  be  mentioned 
by  and  by,  was  never  disclosed  to  the  public — as  it  is  now, 
by  even  a  death-bed  confession,  never  likely  to  be.  A  car- 
dinal idea,  however,  of  this  plan  evidently  was,  that  while 
the  Old  School  commissioners  organized,  as  they  were  ex- 
pected to  do,  an  Assembly,  if  not  the  Assembly,  on  the 
basis  of  their  disowning  acts,  the  New  School  commis- 
sioners, including  those  from  the  disowned  presbyteries, 
and  on  the  basis  of  the  supposed  equal  right  of  the  latter, 
were  to  organize  the  Assembly,  or,  at  least,  an  Assembly, 
which  was  afterwards  to  dispute  the  true  succession  with 
the  other  organization.  Beyond  this,  it  is  possible  to  ex- 
plain only  what  they  might  properly  have  done,  what  they 
actually  did — so  far  as  that  is  known,  and  what  they  after- 
wards claimed  to  have  done. 

The  New  School  commissioners,  even  counting  the  dis- 
owned, proved  to  be  in  a  hopeless  minority  by  more  than 
thirty.  This  fact,  in  itself,  limited  very  much  their  powers. 
Had  they  been  a  majority,  a  plan  of  proceeding  was  open 
to  them  which  to  a  minority  was  impossible.  The  members 
of  every  deliberative  body,  wh  ch,  like  the  General  x\s- 
sembly,  needs,  from  time  to  time,  a  complete  re-organiza- 
tion, have,  as  the  bearers  of  credentials  prima  facie  valid, 
an  unquestionable,  equal,  and  fundamental  right  to  secure 
an  organization,  including  all  thus  accredited.  Generally, 
these  bodies  are  organized  according  to  express  rule  or  pre- 
cedent. But  such  rules  or  precedents,  intended  to  facili- 
tate, cannot  justly  be  allowed  to  prevent,  a  constitutional 
organization,   or   to   exclude   any   whose    credentials  give 


340  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  4. 

them,  'prima  facie^  a  perfect  equality  witli  the  rest.  The 
old  clerk,  according  to  rule,  was  presiding,  in  a  well-known 
case,  in  the  national  House  of  Representatives,  while  that 
body  was  taking  on  its  organic  shape ;  and,  for  party  ends, 
was  preventing  the  very  thing  which  he  had  been  appointed 
to  accomplish.  John  Quincy  Adams,  at  length,  rose,  made 
a  motion,  and  immediately,  ignoring  the  clerk,  put  it  him- 
self. He  had,  however,  a  majority  of  the  accredited  Re- 
presentatives to  sustain  him ;  else  he  could  not  have  se- 
cured his  object.  Had  a  majority  voted  against  him,  or 
refused  to  vote,  he  and  his  adherents  would  have  remained 
powerless.  Now,  the  General  Assembly  is  organized  by 
rule :  the  old  moderator  and  clerks  are  the  regular  instru- 
ments of  its  new  organization.  But,  if  they  pretend  to 
exclude  commissioners  with  credentials  frima-facie  con- 
stitutional, any  member  may  make  and  put  a  motion,  to 
supersede  those  officers  by  the  appointment  of  others.  The 
proper  constituents  of  every  such  body  have  an  inherent 
right,  superior  to  all  by-laws  at  least,  to  effect  an  organiza- 
tion rightfully.  Those  constituents  are  the  body,  first,  to 
organize  themselves,  afterwards  to  act  organically.  But 
the  New  School  had  not  a  majority,  and,  therefore,  could 
not,  in  this  way,  accomplish  their  object. 

But,  as  a  minority,  they  had  a  remedy  of  equal  value, 
so  far,  at  least,  as  the  presentation  to  the  civil  courts  of  the 
naked  question  of  the  legality  of  the  disowning  acts  was 
concerned.  The  supposed  rights  of  the  commissioners 
from  the  disowned  presbyteries  having  been  denied  hy  a 
vote  of  the  majority^  those  commissioners,  and  all  Avho  chose 
to  join  them,  might  have  treated  the  body  excluding  them 
as  a  nullity,  and,  by  themselves,  might  have  organized  the 
true  General  Assembly — that  Assembly  which  the  civil 
courts  must  pronounce  the  true  one,  if  they  should  pro- 
nounce the  disowning  acts  unconstitutional.  This  minority 
proceeding  was  probably  what,  beforehand,  the  New  School 
leaders  and  their  counsel  contemplated  :  for  they  must 
have  known,  beforehand,  that  their  adherents  were  a  mere 
minority. 

The  organization  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  has  been 
already  said,  is  regulated  by  definite  rule.  The  moderator 
of  the   former  Assembly  is  to  open  the   sessions  with  a 


1838.]  THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  341 

sermon,  and  preside  until  the  new  moderator  lias  been 
chosen.  The  old  clerks  are  a  committee  to  receive  tlie 
commissions,  an'd  from  them  make  out  a  roll  to  be  reported 
to  the  yet  unorganized  body.  Irregular,  doubtful,  or  dis- 
puted commissions  they  report  at  the  same  time,  and  lay 
before  the  inchoate  Assembly,  composed  of  those  whose 
names  are  upon  the  roll;  and  who  are  now  organized  for 
business,  but  must,  as  their  first  act,  appoint  a  Committee 
of  Elections,  to  which  the  questionable  commisions  reported 
must  then  be  referred  for  consideration.  The  earliest  mo- 
ment when  any  motion  could,  regularly,  be  made,  for  obtain- 
ing a  direct  decision  of  the  Assembly,  that  is,  of  the  majority, 
upon  the  case  of  commissioners  from  the  disowned  Presby- 
teries, was  immediately  after  the  appointment  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Elections ;  and,  even  then,  no  motion  would  have 
been  in  order,  excepting  to  refer  to  that  committee  the  com- 
missions which  the  clerks  had  refused  to  receive. 

Each  party  held  a  preliminary  meeting.  The  Old 
School,  informed  previously  that  the  New  were  meditating 
a  coup  cVStat,  went  early  to  the  Seventh  Cliurch,  where  the 
Assembly  was  to  convene,  and,  at  the  hour  appointed  for 
the  opening  exercises,  were  closely  arranged  in  the  front 
seats  around  the  moderator's  chair.  The  New  School 
members,  coming  in  together  from  their  preparative  delib- 
erations, necessarily  sat  back  of  the  others.  After  a  ser- 
mon by  the  old  moderator.  Dr.  Elliott,  he  took  the  chair, 
and  proceeded  to  organize  the  judicatory  according  to  rule. 
He  had  just  called  upon  the  clerks,  as  the  Committee  of 
Commissions,  to  report,  when  Dr.  William  Patton,  of  the 
New  School,  offered  certain  resolutions  concerning  this  re- 
port ;  but  the  moderator  declared  them  out  of  order,  as 
he  did,  also,  an  appeal  from  his  decision  made  by  Dr. 
Patton:  there  was,  as  yet,  no  Assembly  to  appeal  to. 
This  point  was  yielded;  the  New  School  leaders  seemed  to 
admit  their  error;  and  were  evidently  disconcerted  and 
thrown  into  confusion  by  the  rebuff.  The  report  of  tlie 
Clerks  was  made;  the  moderator  announced  that  any  com- 
missions not  yet  handed  to  them  might  now  be  presented; 
but  just  then.  Dr.  Erskine  Mason  rose;  said  that  he  held 
in  his  hand  certain  commissions — those  of  commissioners 
from  the  disowned  Presbyteries — which  had  been  rejected 


342  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  4. 

bv  tlie  Clerks ;  and  he  moved  that  the  names  in  these  com- 
missions should  be  added  to  the  roll.  The  Moderator  de- 
clared his  motion,  as  also  an  appeal  which  he  then  took, 
out  of  order  at  that  time.  The  Rev.  Miles  P.  Squier,  one 
of  the  rejected  commissioners,  now  arose,  tendering  his 
commission,  and  claiming  his  seat.  Learning  whence 
he  came,  the  Moderator  said,  ''We  do  not  know  you.  Sir." 
Dr.  Mason  and  Mr.  Squier  resumed  their  seats.  Hitherto, 
what  it  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  the  New  School  to  ob- 
tain— a  vote  of  the  majority — they  had  utterly  failed  to 
secure,  because  they  had  called  for  it  prematurely,  and  the 
clear-witted,  self-possessed,  determined  Moderator  had 
rif^htfuUy  disappointed  all  their  expectations,  and  frustra- 
ted all  their  efforts. 

Mr.  Squier  was,  perhaps,  entirely  self-prompted  in  pre- 
senting his  claims.  Dr.  Patton  and  Dr.  Mason  were  evi- 
dently acting  in  concert  with  other  leading  men  ;  but  Dr. 
Beman,  who  sat  near  them,  was  clearly  the  master  spirit  of 
the  occasion,  and  the  Rev.  John  P.  Cleveland  had  been 
selected  to  execute  the  most  important  and  difficult  part  of 
the  plan. 

"At  this  moment,  Mr.  Cleveland  seems  to  have  been  greatly 
embarrassed  and  agitated.  His  countenance  was  flushed  and 
his  frame  trembled.  Apparently,  he  hesitated,  and  held  a  hasty 
conference  with  those  around  him.  With  excited  countenances 
and  eager  gestures,  the  voices  of  Drs.  Beecher  and  Taylor  were 
heard  in  low  but  earnest  tones  urging  him, "  Go  on!  Go  on  ! "  "^ 

The  critical  nature  of  the  act  he  was  about  to  perform 
may  have  occasioned  Mr.  Cleveland's  perturbation  ;  but  it 
is  more  probable,  that  the  preceding  events,  on  which  his 
action  was  based,  had  not  gone  as  he  had  expected:  he 
half  discerned,  at  least,  that  refusals  by  the  Moderator  and 
Clerks  were  not  refusals  by  the  Assembly,  or  the  majority. 
He  may,  at  any  rate,  have  had  a  confused  idea  that  the 
course  of  things  had  not  been  exactly  that  marked  out  by 
their  counsel;  either  because  the  rules,  sternly  enforced  by 
the  Moderator,  had  not  been  sufficiently  studied  by  either 
lawyers  or  clients ;  or  because  divines  and  other  unpro- 
fessional persons  are  not  very  safe  executors  of  a  legal 
brief.     He  suffered  himself,  however,  to  be  hurried  into  ac- 

1  Baird's  Hist,  of  New  School,  650. 


1838.]  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  343 

tion.  Under  his  leadership,  the  New  School  organized 
their  new  body,  and  carried  it  off  to  glory  over  it,  without 
discovering — some  have  not  discovered  yet — that  it  was  a 
simple  abortion. 

Mr.  Cleveland  rose,  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  from 
which  he  seems  partly  to  have  read,  while  partly,  as  if  to 
accommodate  them  to  unexpected  circumstances,  he  extem- 
porized, certain  reasons  for  what  he  was  about  to  do. 
Then  he  moved,  put  the  motion,  and  declared  it  carried, 
that  Dr.  Beman  should  be  temporary  chairman.  The  lat- 
ter stepped  into  the  aisle,  and,  under  his  presidency,  first, 
temporary  clerks,  then,  a  permanent  moderator  and  per- 
manent clerks,  were  hastily  chosen.  Afterwards  the  new 
body  resolved  to  meet,  forthwith,  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church, — Mr.  Barnes's, — and  moved  off  thither  in  triumph. 

During  this  hurried  scene,  the  Old  School  and  their 
moderator,  after  a  few  idle  efforts  to  transact  the  regular 
business  of  the  Assembly,  and  a  few  still  more  idle  calls  to 
order,  had  quietly  taken  their  seats,  and  waited  for  the 
other  party  to  retire,  before  they  resumed  action.  On  the 
part  of  the  New  School,  it  had  been  a  scene  of  great  ex- 
citement, and  rather  boisterous  noise;. but  it  is  not  proba- 
ble, that  any  set  of  men  would  have  performed  such  a  duty 
— as  these  esteemed  it — in  such  trying  circumstances,  with 
any  greater  decorum  than  they  manifested.  How  loudly 
or  eagerly  they  cried  "Aye  !  Aye !  "  was  a  very  little  mat- 
ter to  concern  one's  self  about,  considering  the  vital  impor- 
tance of  other  issues  involved.  Even  Dr.  Edward  Beecher 
and  the  Rev.  Eliakim  Phelps  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
lost  their  dignity,  because,  with  stentorian  voices,  tliey 
proclaimed  at  the  doors,  that  the  General  Assembly  would 
meet,  forthwith,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Cliurch.  They 
may  have  been  instructed  to  regard  this  as  a  legal  require- 
ment. 

The  truth,  however,  is,  most  plainly,  that  supposing  the 
plan  of  the  New  School  to  have  contemplated  the  simple, 
proper  minority  proceeding  above  described, — an  organiza- 
tion by  themselves,  on  the  ground  that  the  other  organiza- 
tion had  been  fatally  vitiated  by  the  refusal  of  the  majority 
to  admit  the  commissioners  rejected  by  the  Clerks, — they 
were  far  more  punctilious  than  necessary  about  the  time, 


344  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  4. 

place  and  other  circumstances;  while  they  made,  with  all 
their  imaginary  exactness,  a  serious  blunder,  in  choosing 
permanent  officers,  before  they  were  constitutionally  pre- 
pared for  such  business.^  Especially,  since  the  trustees  of 
the  Seventh  Church  had  expressly  prohibited  their  attempt- 
ino"  any  organization  in  that  house,  the  malcontents  might, 
without  losing  any  advantage,  have  quietly  withdrawn 
and  orojanized  themselves,  at  the  nearest  convenient  time 
and  place.  An  organization  just  then  and  there  was  not  a 
matter  of  legal  necessity.  De  mmimis  non  curat  lex. 
Their  claims  were  to  be  determined  upon  principles  far  more 
important  than  these;  and  it  was  idle  to  insist  upon  minutes 
and  superficial  square  feet,  when  they  were  avowedly  sacri- 
ficing the  ordinary  rules  of  organization  to  a  higher  law, 
and  for  the  security  of  essential  rights. 

But  what  was  Mr.  Cleveland  actually  attempting?  The 
paper  which,  in  part  at  least,  he  read,  and  which  must,  of 
course,  have  exhibited  the  original  New  School  idea  of  the 
proceeding,  was  carefully  suppressed — was  not  produced 
even  upon  the  trial  of  the  cause  before  the  civil  court.  Mr. 
Cleveland  might  have  testified  to  both  his  own  extempora- 
neous remarks  and  what  he  had  read;  but  he,  the  chief  ac- 
tor in  the  most  critical  part  of  the  proceeding,  was  carefully 
kept  out  of  the  witness-box.  Inferior  actors  were  examined, 
to  testify  as  to  what  he  had  done;  but  he  himself,  the  one 
who  could  have  best  told  the  whole  story,  was  not  sum- 
moned. Dr.  Beman,  who  managed  the  proceedings,  as  tem- 
porary chairman,  after  Mr.  Cleveland  had  led  the  way,  had 
gone  to  England  a  few  weeks  before  the  trial  commenced. 
The  depositions  of  both  these  gentlemen  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  New  School  counsel,  but  were  not  produced.  The 
^'substance"  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  paper  and  remarks  was 
said  to  have  been  given  in  the  minute  of  the  transaction 
afterwards  adopted  by  the  New  Scliool  Assembly;  but  that 
minute  had  been  drawn  by  a  committee  subsequently  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  and,  as  it  appeared,  under  the 
superintendence  of  counsel  learned  in  the  law. 

And,  when  now  the  case  had  come  before  the  tribunal  of 
justice,  the  New  School,  through  their  counsel,  seeing  that 
their  proper  minority  proceeding  had  been  a  failure,  be- 
cause they  had  not  waited  to  secure  that  essential  condition 

See  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xii.  7. 


1838.]  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  345 

— the  vote  of  the  majority,  boklly  claimed  that  the  pro- 
ceeding had  really  been  the  other^one  whicli  has  been  de- 
scribed— that,  proper  and,  indeed,  possible  for  a  majority 
alone.  To  make  out  their  case,  they  contended  that  Mr. 
Cleveland's  motion  had  been  offered  to  all  the  commission- 
ers present,  and  that,  according  to  the  settled  rule,  the 
silent  Old  School  portion  of  them  must  be  counted  as  if 
they  had  voted,  aye,  in  the  election  of  Dr.  Beman  and  tlie 
temporary  Clerks.  But  ''he  Avho  seeks  equity,  must 
do  equity."  The  civil  law,  which  is  ratio  siimma^  will  not 
override  minor  regulations,  to  do  substantial  justice  to  one 
party,  without  taking  care,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  sub- 
stantial justice  to  the  other  also.  The  New  School  had, 
confessedly,  disregarded,  as,  on  their  principles,  they  right- 
eously might,  the  ordinary  rules  of  proceeding,  in  order  to 
secure  a  higher  end ;  and  could  they  now  turn  round,  and, 
contrary  to  the  evident  fact  and  all  justice,  claim  that  the 
Old  School,  by  their  constrained  silence,  were,  according 
to  a  mere  technicality,  to  be  regarded  as  having  joined 
with  them  to  defeat  their  own  purposes?  It  is  perfectly 
clear  that  neither  Mr.  Adams,  nor  Mr.  Cleveland,  if,  in- 
deed, the  latter  was  seeking  the  same  object  as  the  former, 
could  successfully  appeal  to  the  inchoate  house,  without 
an  absolute  majority  on  his  side,  ready  to  follow  his  lead. 
Could  a  helpless  minority,  on  a  sudden,  through  a  self-con- 
stituted chairman,  spring  a  question  upon  a  deliberative 
body,  and  then  claim,  in  their  own  favour,  the  votes  of  a 
momentarily  bewildered  majority,  who  for  peace'  sake  had 
simply  sat  still,  and  tried  to  behave  as  decently  as  they 
could  under  great  provocation  ? 

It  is  perfectly  evident,  that  the  counsel  for  the  New 
School  claimed  for  their  clients  a  plan  and  an  attempt 
which  were  a  sheer  afterthought.  Even  their  minute,  so 
carefully  drawn,  near  the  time  of  the  event,  did  not  justify 
the  assumption  which  ten  months'  further  reflection  led 
them  to  make  upon  the  trial.  It  represented  Mr.  Cleve- 
land as  proposing  to  secure  a  constitutional  organization 
of  the  Assembly  at  that  time  and  place;  as  trusting  that 
his  attempt  would  not  be  considered  an  act  of  discourtesy  ; 
and  as  intending  to  accomplish  his  object  in  the  fewest 
words,  in  the  shortest  time,  and  with  the  least  interruption 
Vol.  II.— 28 


346  CHURCH    REFORM.  [CH.  35.  4. 

practicable.     Discourtesy  to  whom — interruption  of  what 

if  tliey  were  not  acting  independently  of  the  Old  School? 

Did  Mr.  Adams  talk  of  discourtesy,  or  interruption,  when 
he  avowedly  did  what  the  counsel  afterwards  asserted  that 
Mr.  Cleveland  had  done?     And,  though  much  of  the  evi- 
dence was  made  to  square  marvellously  with  this  figment 
of  the  lawyers,  they  could  not,  with  all  their  care,  prevent 
the  naked  truth's  appearing  now  and  then.     Dr.  William 
Hill,  a  New  School  man  and  witness,  to  the  discomfiture, 
plainly  of  the   counsel  on  that  side,  who  hastily  sought  to 
arrest  him,  said,  "  I  had  opposed  the  separate  organization."^ 
Instead  of  then  regarding  the  majority  as  voters,  the  New 
School  were  simply  afraid  that  they  might  vote,  and  embar- 
rass, as  clearly  it  would  have  embarrassed,  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding.    Said  Dr.  Hill,  ''I  heard  a  few  scattering  noes, 
onlv  from  the  direction  of  the  Old  School —  '•'     *     I  was 
astonished  at  this,  because  I  expected  a  thundering  "No!" 
as  they  claimed  to  be  the  majority.     As  there  were  so  few 
nef^atives,  I  w^as  surprised  that  there  had  been   any.     I 
thought  they  were,  at   least,  not  well  trained,     ^i^     *     I 
was  surprised  at   hearing  any  noes,  and  disappointed.      I 
had  expected  that  the  noes  would  be  of  another  character, 
and  Avas  agreeably  disappointed.     I  had  anticipated  these 
events,  and  had  feared  that  a  great  riot  would  take  place. "^ 
Were  the  New  School,  while  hoping  that  the  Old  would 
not  vote,  and  what? — arrest  the  proceedings  ? — No,  but  to 
maintain  their  vote,  cause  a  riot, — were  they  really,  with 
this  hope,  entertaining  the  thought  of  torturing  their  oppo- 
nents' silence  into  consent  ?     It  is  true,  that  the  project  of 
a  "separate  organization"  forbade  the  exclusion  from  a 
vote  of  any  lawful  commissioner.      Such   an   exclusion,  as 
they  regarded  it,   was  the  very  thing  of  which  the  New 
School  had  complained.     But  to  keep  the  way  open  for  the 
majority  to   rejoin  them,   was  a  very  different  thing  from 
regarding  that  majority,  while  actually  in  a  hostile  attitude, 
as  consenting  to  b.^,  as  an  organic  body,  destroyed. 

Dr.  Miller,  though  not  a  commissioner,  was  a  most  deep- 
ly interested  witness  of  the  whole  scene.  Upon  the  trial 
of  the  case,  he  was  called  to  give  evidence,  and  was  asked, 

1  Report  of  the  Prcsb.  Church  Case,  212.  2  jb. 


1838.]  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  347 

upon  cross-examination  by  the  New  School  counsel, 
whether  he  had  not  passed  hastily  to  the  moderator,  and 
begged  him  not  to  permit  them  to  be  organized.  He  had 
done  no  such  thing.  It  seems  scarcely  credible  tliat  any  one 
could  have  susjo-ested  the  Moderator's  realizinij  the  Ennrli.sh 
clerical  wit's  idea,  of  using  a  mop  to  keep  out  the  waves  of 
the  Atlantic. 

With  the  scenes  just  described,  the  controversy  of  so 
many  years,  between  the  Okl  and  New  School,  ended,  so 
far  as  the  floor  of  the  Assembly  was  concerned — ended 
forever,  unless  the  tAVO  parties  should  come  together  again 
to  renew  their  conflicts. 


CHAPTER    THIRTY-SIXTH. 

CHEQUERED  SCENES. 

1838, 1839. 


1.  Death  of  Mrs.  Breckinridge. 

In  the  annals  of  every  household  the  tide  of  earthly 
grief  must  ever  swell  above  and  beyond  the  tide  of  earthly 
gladness.  It  is  the  law  of  nature,  that  joy  shall  be  lost  in 
sorrow,  as  it  is  the  law  of  grace  that  sorrow  shall  be  swal- 
lowed up  in  joy. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1835  had  elected  Dr.  John 
Breckinridge  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology  in  the  Semi- 
nary at  Princeton.  He  had  accepted  the  appointment,  and 
had  been  inaugurated  on  the  5tli  of  May,  following.  For 
some  time  the  continuance  of  his  connexion  with  the  Board 
of  Education  had  been  a  subject  of  solicitude,  and  this  new 
call  was  considered  decisive  of  his  duty.  Yet  Mrs.  Breck- 
inridge, delightful  as  the  prospect  was  of  returning  to  the 
scenes  of  her  youth,  and  almost  to  her  early  home,  was 
perhaps  the  last  to  assure  herself  that  she  might  accept  re- 
lease from  the  trials  which  for  nearly  five  3'ears  she  had 
resolutely  endured.  The  decision,  however,  was  made; 
Princeton  w^as  henceforth  to  be  her  residence ;  and  a  few 
noble-hearted  friends  in  Philadelphia,  uniting  in  the  pur- 
chase of  a  commodious  dwelling  near  the  Seminary,  pre- 
sented her  with  the  title  deed  for  herself  and  her  children. 
She  would  have  put  aside  the  gift  in  favor  of  the  Seminary; 
but  the  donors  would  permit  it  to  be  nothing  else  than  a 
testimonial  of  regard  to  her  and  her  husband.  Yet  this 
new  home,  which  promised  so  much  to  earthly  comfort  and 
affection,  promised  but  deceptively.  Dr.  Breckinridge's 
time  was  divided  between  the  ordinary  duties  of  his  profes- 
348 


1838.]       DEATH  OF  MRS.  BRECKINRIDGE.  340 

sorship,  and  an  active  agency,  in  behalf  of  the  funds  of  the 
Seminary,  which  took  him  very  much  away  from  his  fami- 
ly. Then,  after  only  eighteen  months  in  Princeton,  he  was 
urged  to  undertake  an  agency  for  tlie  new  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions ;  and,  though  de  dining  the  proposal,  consented 
to  spend  the  winter  of  1837-8  in  the  City  of  New  York,  la- 
boring in  this  cause.  Thither,  to  a  hotel,  the  entire  family 
removed.  Under  date  of  the  ITth  of  December,  Dr.  A. 
Alexander  wrote, 

^  *  I  cannot  conclude,  without  a  word  to  dear  Mrs.  Breckin- 
ridge. I  admire  her  ready  submission  to  the  calls  of  Provi- 
dence. For  although  she  cannot  help  dropping  the  silent  tear, 
she  makes  no  complaint,  but  shuts  up  her  comfortable  house, 
leaves  her  home  and  her  friends,  and,  as  cheerfully  as  she  can, 
goes  to  live  in  a  hotel,  and  among  strangers.  Well,  she  shall 
not  lose  her  reward.  For  these  sacrifices  she  shall  have  rich 
compensation;  and  our  sweetest  earthly  pleasure  is  in  doing 
the  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father.' 

At  the  close  of  the  winter  the  family  returned  to  their 
deliojhtful  home  in  Princeton.  Mrs.  Breckinrid<:e's  health 
w^as  very  delicate,  but  for  a  time  her  condition  excited  no 
alarm.  Then  she  was  prostrated  by  a  violent  attack  of  ill- 
ness, which  filled  the  minds  of  all  around  her  with  gloomy 
forebodings.  Recovering  a  little,  she  was  taken,  about  the 
first  of  May,  at  her  own  request,  to  try  the  waters  of  Sara- 
toga ;  and  there,  before  the  season  for  crowds  of  visitors, 
spent  three  weeks,  but  without  benefit.  Her  debility  was 
extreme;  she  could  not  walk  many  steps  by  herself,  but 
was  borne  about  in  her  husband's  arms.  Wasted  and  frail, 
gentle  and  patient,  her  face,  in  its  chastened  loveliness, 
seeming  like  a  transparency,  through  which  the  soul  shone 
forth,  she  was  an  object  of  interest  to  all  who  passed  by; 
how  much  more  to  those  bound  to  her  by  ties  the  most  pre- 
cious, yet  just  ready  to  snap  asunder.  Leaving  Saratoga, 
she  tried  to  reach  the  Red  Sulphur  Springs  of  Virginia, 
but  could  go  no  further  than  Philadelphia.  While  there, 
she  received  the  following  letter,  dated  the  8th  of  dune, 
from  her  father  : — 

*  I  now  see,  my  dear  Margaret,  more  than  ever,  what  a  happy 
providence  it  was,  that  you  concluded  to  take  medical  counsel 
in  Philadelphia,  and  that  your  jouruey  to  Virginia  was  post- 
poned.    We  can  now  perceive  how  great  would  have  been  your 


350  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  1. 

distress  and  peril  had  you  pursued  that  journey.  God,  in  his 
mercy,  interposed  to  prevent  it ;  and  who  can  tell  but  that  this 
first  mercy  may  be  followed  by  a  train  of  mercies,  which  shall 
issue  in  your  happy  restoration?  The  great  Physician  of  soul 
and  body  is  able  to  heal  and  restore  you.  Our  hope  and 
prayer  are  that  this  favor  may  not  be  withheld.  I  trust,  how- 
ever, my  dear  Daughter,  that  you  will  be  enabled,  with  humble 
and  cordial  confidence,  to  resign  yourself  into  the  hands  of  a 
God  of  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  and  to  leave  the  event  with 
him.  Happy,  thrice  happy  are  those,  who,  on  a  bed  of  sick- 
ness, can  repose  with  calm,  unshaken  trust  on  the  merit  and 
grace  of  the  Saviour,  and  rejoice  in  him  as  the  Lord  their 
righteousness  and  strength.  Look  to  him,  my  beloved  Daughter. 
Pray  without  ceasing  for  the  aid  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  enable 
you  to  lay  hold  of  his  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises, 
and  more  and  more  to  renounce  all  confidence  in  yourself.  It 
is,  indeed,  a  precious  privilege,  to  know  that  our  Redeemer  is 
almighty  and  all  sufiicient,  and  as  full  of  love  as  of  power. 
Oh,  what  a  mercy  to  be  allowed  to  plead  his  finished  work,  as 
the  ground  of  all  our  hopes,  and  to  go  without  reserve  to  that 
fountain  that  is  opened  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness,  that  we 
may  be  cleansed  from  all  our  pollutions,  "  and  find  grace  to 
help  in  time  of  need."  I  cannot  help  hoping  that  this  blessed 
Saviour  is  "precious  "  to  my  beloved  child;  and  that  on  the  bed 
of  sickness  on  which  he  has  been  pleased  to  lay  her,  she  enjoys 
something  of  those  consolations  which  are  neither  few  nor 
small. 

'Remember,  that  "we  have  not  a  High  Priest  which  cannot 
be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  but  was  in  all 
points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  Blessed  be  his 
name,  "  he  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto 
God  by  him." ' 

From  Philadelphia,  by  easy  stages,  Mrs.  Breckinridge 
was  brought  back  to  Princeton;  there  to  linger  only  three 
days  in  her  earthly  tabernacle.  Of  a  self-distrustful  habit, 
and  convinced  of  the  evil  of  talking  much  of  one's  own  re- 
ligious experience,  she  however  said  enough,  with  a  child- 
like simplicity  of  faith  and  feeling,  to  satisfy  the  minds  of 
those  who  longed  for  her  eternal  welfare.  "  I  am  only 
afraid,"  she  remarked,  "  of  the  article  of  death :  I  know 
that  when  this  is  over,  I  shall  be  in  Jesus's  arms."  "On 
the  evening  of  June  the  13th,  she  reached  her  children  and 
her  earthly  home.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  a  quarter 
before  ten  o'clock,  with   her  reason  unclouded,  in  a  frame 


1838.]  DEATH  OF  MRS.  BRECKINRIDl^E.  351 

of  calm  and  holy  triumph  which  marked  the  dawning  of 
heaven  on  her  soul;  with  a  meek  ])rayer  for  permission  to 
die,  and  with  hut  a  single  pang,  she  hade  the  world  fare- 
well, and  ascended  to  God!"^ 

To  a  large  and  deeply  affected  congregation,  in  the  Prcs- 
hyterian  Church,  Dr.  Alexander  preached  at  hei'  funeral. 

"She  was  brought  up  among  you,  from  her  childhood,"  he 
said  to  the  audience,  "and  enjoyed  the  afiectionate  regards  of 
this  community  in  no  common  degree,  as  is  manifest  hy  the 
general  and  tender  sympathy  felt  on  this  occasion.  ]3y  her 
sweet  simplicity,  engaging  vivacity,  affectionate  temper  and 
aflable  manners,  our  beloved  friend  endeai'cd  herself  to  her  ac- 
quaintances and  neighbors,  wherever  she  resided.  And  in  re- 
gard to  her  Christian  character,  she  adorned  her  profession  hy 
a  consistent  life  and  conversation,  in  all  the  relations  which' she 
sustained."^ 

A  little  more  than  a  year  after  Mrs.  Breckinridge's  death, 
a  "  Memorial  "^  Avas  printed  for  private  circulation,  con- 
sisting of  brief  notices  of  her  life  and  character  hy  Mrs. 
Miller,  supplemented  by  Dr.  Breckinridge ;  Dr.  Alexan- 
der's funeral  sermon  ;  and  "  Letters  of  a  Grandfather,"  by 
Dr.  Miller.     In  his  diary,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'June  16,  1888.  This  is  a  mournful,  solemn  day.  This 
morning,  soon  after  breakfast,  my  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Breckinridge  '^  '^•'  departed  this  life.  She  has  been 
declining  in  health  for  six  months;  and,  for  the  preceding  three 
months,  had  been  thought  in  a  very  perilous  situation.  She  suf- 
fered much  from  extreme  weakness  and  frequent  pain,  hut  was 
patient  and  composed,  and  departed  in  the  calm  enjoyment  of 
Christian  hope.  Blessed  be  the  God  of  all  grace  for  this  inesti- 
mable favor. 

'Thus  my  first-born  has  gone  before  me.  INIay  the  Lord 
enable  me  and  my  beloved  wife  to  make  the  proper  use  of  this 
bereavement.  Why  are  the  parents  spared  and  the  daughter 
taken?     " Even  so.  Father,  for  so  it  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight." 

^  Memorial  of  Mrs.  Breckinridge,   59. 

2  Memorial,  89. 

3  "Memorial  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Breckinridge,"  I.  "  A  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet  Breckinridge."  "  Submission  :  a  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death  of 
Mrs.  Margaret  Breckinridge.  By  the  Rev.  A.  Alexander,  D.D."  11.  "  Letters 
of  a  Grandfather,  to  the  Surviving  ChiMrcn  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Breckinridge. 
By  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D."  "  Phihi.lelphia :  18:;9."— 12mo.  Pp.90 
and  103, 

The  titles  of  the  "Letters"  are  1.  Introductory.  2.  Human  .Nature,  .i. 
The  Way  of  Salvation.  4.  The  Bible.  5.  Prayer.  C.  Cultivation  of  the 
Mind.     7.  Cultivation  of  the  Heart  and  Moral  Habits.     8.  Manners. 


352  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  2. 

Oh,  that  we  also  may  be  ready!  And  Oh  that  we  may  mani- 
fest such  an  improvement,  on  our  j^art,  of  this  dispensation,  as 
to  benefit  our  younger  children,  and  glorify  Him  Avho  gave 
them!  "The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away: 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord !" 

'May  God,  of  his  infinite  mercy,  support  the  bereaved  and 
mourning  husband !  Never  was  there  a  more  afiectionate  com- 
panion, and  never  any  one  who  appeared  more  borne  down  by 
bereavement.  May  He,  who  has  sent  the  stroke,  send  the  balm 
of  consolation,  and  enable  him  with  confidence  to  say,  "  It  is 
good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted." 

'By  this  mournful  death,  our  dear  daughter's  three  children 
(she  had  lost  three,  and  had  only  three  surviving)  are  likely  to 
be  devolved  on  our  care.  Solemn  charge!  May  we  be  enabled 
faithfully  and  wisely  to  discharge  all  the  duties  connected  with 
this  tender  and  interesting  trust.  Dear  motherless  children ! 
they  stand  in  peculiar  need  of  a  guide.  O  Lord,  wilt  not  thou 
be  the  guide  of  their  youth  ?' 

2.    Publications. 

Early  in  the  year  1839,  Dr.  Miller  contributed  to  The 
Preshyterian  several  short  articles,  entitled  "Micas  Eccle- 
siasticae,"  and  signed,  Bibliciis.  Li  one  of  them  he  said, 
on  the  subject  of  "  Occasional  Communion," 

"My  own  practice,  as  a  pastor,  has  always  been,  to  invite  to 
the  communion  table  over  which  I  presided,  all  those  members 
of  "sister  churches"  who  felt  inclined  to  unite  with  us.  This, 
I  believe,  is  the  common  practice  and  language  of  Presbyterian 
ministers.  And  by  sider  churcJies  I  usually  explained  myself 
to  mean  all  those  who,  in  the  main,  agreed  with  us  in  the  great 
principles  of  our  common  salvation.  In  this  class  I  included, 
not  only  the  Dutch  Church,  the  various  classes  of  Presbyterian 
Seceders,  and  the  orthodox  Congregationalists,  but  also  the 
Methodist  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches.  Both  these 
I  consider  as  holding  the  fundamentals  of  our  holy  religion ; 
always  excepting,  however,  from  this  estimate  such  Methodists 
and  Episcopalians  as  ajopear  to  be  open  and  thorough  Pela- 
f/ians — concerning  whom  I  must  say,  with  the  excellent  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  that  I  cannot  consider  them  as  deserving  the 
name  of  Christians  at  all.  These  include,  however,  but  a 
very  small  portion  of  the  mass  of  those  denominations. 

"  I  once  saw  a  Methodist  and  two  Episcopalians  at  a  Presby- 
terian communion-table.  We  knew  them  well,  and  considered 
them  as  truly  pious.     They  requested  to  be  permitted  to  com- 


l838.]  PUBLICATIONS.  353 

mune  with  us,  and  were  promptly  and  freely  allowed  to  do  ?o. 
They  all  received  the  elements  hneellnij  by  the  side  of  the  table. 
This  not  only  gave  no  offence  to  the  pastor  or  elders,  or  the 
other  communicants;  but  was  regarded  by  them  all  rather 
with  pleasure,  as  an  example  of  the  "  communion  of  saints," 
which,  in  its  liberal  and  delightful  spirit,  could  overleap  the 
bounds  which  names  and  forms  had  erected. 

"  This  was  called,  in  our  technical  language,  admitting  them 
to  occasional  communion.  There  were  jNIethodist  and  Ej)i.scopal 
churches  in  the  town  ;  but  these  individuals  had  a  strong  desire, 
on  that  occasion,  to  participate  with  us  ;  and  we  had  no  scruple 
which  forbade  it.  Had  the  same  persons  come  to  me,  and  re- 
quested to  be  received  into  regular  and  stated  membership  in 
our  church,  informing  me,  at  the  same  time,  that  they  were 
conscientiously  scrupulous  in  favour  of  kneeling  at  the  Lord's 
table,  I  should  certainly  have  advised  them  to  withdraw  their 
application,  and  to  commune  statedly  with  churches  witliin 
their  reach,  with  which  they  could  entirely  harmonize  in  this 
respect.  But,  if  I  were  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  a  place  where 
there  was  no  Methodist  or  Episcopal  *  *  worship  on  which 
they  could  attend,  and  two  or  three  individuals  of  those  de- 
nominations should  request  to  be  admitted  statedly  to  my  com- 
munion-table— advertising  me,  at  the  same  time,  that  they 
always  wished  joermission  to  kneel  in  receiving  the  sacramental 
elements,  I,  for  one,  should  not  object  to  receiving  sucli  per- 
sons, provided  I  thought  them  substantially  orthodox  and  truly 
pious." 

The  following  two  paragraphs  are  from  a  review,  by  Dr. 
Miller,  of  a  "Bible  Class  Manual,"  in  the  Repertory. 

"Were  it  possible,  therefore,  so  to  lift  up  our  voice  as  to  cause 
it  to  be  heard  by  every  pastor,  by  every  ruling  elder,  and  by 
every  professing  Christian  in  our  beloved  church,  we  would 
exert  it  in  saying  to  them,  let  the  children  of  the  church  be  the 
objects  of  your  vigilant  and  unceasing  care.  Let  them  be  fa- 
miliar, from  their  mother's  lap,  with  the  Bible,  with  the  Cate- 
chisms of  the  church,  and  with  such  judicious  compends  of 
Christian  doctrine  as  shall  preoccupy  their  minds  with  divine 
truth,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  countless  errors  which  are  ever 
found  to  assail  their  opening  faculties.  Let  the  officers  of  the 
church,  as  their  moral  parent,  regard  them  as,  in  some  respects, 
the  most  precious  part  of  their  charge ;  providing  for  their 
instruction;  suppressing  every  kind  of  vice  and  immorality  in 
them;  reminding  them  of  their  bai)tismal  dedication;  putting 
in  the  Master's  claim  to  their  aliections  and  services ;  and  ac- 


354  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  2. 

compauying  every  effort  with  unceasing  prayer  with  them,  and 
for  them,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  accompany  and  crown  with 
success  all  the  means  employed  for  their  benefit. 

"  Such  must  be  among  the  means  unceasingly  employed,  if 
"we  wish  our  church  to  be  built  up  in  knowledge,  in  piety,  and 
in  peace ;  if  we  wish  harmony  and  orthodoxy  to  reign  in  all 
our  borders  ;  if  we  desire  our  children  to  take  the  place  of  their 
fathers  when  we  are  sleeping  in  the  dust,  and  to  bear  forward 
the  ark  of  God  to  victory  and  glory  in  the  future  contest  w^ith 
error  and  sin,  when  we  shall  have  resigned  to  them  our  armour. 
He  who  expects  the  church  to  gain  such  blessings  Avithout  the 
use  of  such  means,  may  just  as  well  hope  to  gather  grapes  of 
thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles.  Without  the  faithful  use  of  such 
means,  if  the  church  w^ere  to-day  perfectly  pure  and  united,  we 
might  expect  to  find  her,  in  a  few  years,  torn  by  divisions,  for- 
saken of  her  children,  and  her  best  interests  given  to  the 
winds."  ^ 

From  a  review,  also  by  Dr.  Miller,  of  Dr.  Griffin's  Ser- 
mons, in  the  same  volume  of  the  Repertory,  the  following 
extracts  are  taken. 

"  Dr.  Griffin  continued  to  be  the  pastor  of  the  Park  Street 
Church  between  three  and  four  years.  During  this  time,  he 
was  diligent,  eloquent,  and  popular,  both  as  a  preacher  and  pas- 
tor. During  this  period,  too,  he  delivered  and  jjublished  his 
"  Park  Street  Lectures,"  which  have  generally  been  considered 
as  the  ablest  of  all  his  publications.  And  no  one  acquainted 
with  the  consistency  and  uniformity  of  his  character  can  doubt 
that  he  preached  now  with  an  ardour  and  a  power  as  great  as 
ever  before.  And  yet,  if  we  mistake  not.  Dr.  Griffin's  ministry 
in  Boston  was  not  attended  with  anything  like  the  success  with 
which  it  pleased  God  to  connect  it  in  every  preceding  and  sub- 
sequent stage  of  his  pastoral  life.  We  know  not  whether  we 
are  j  ustifiable  in  attempting  to  account  for  this  fact — supposing 
it  to  be  a  fact ;  but  we  will  venture  to  make  one  suggestion 
which  our  readers  may  regard  as  little  or  as  much  as  they  think 
proper. 

"  We  are  constrained  then  seriously  to  doubt,  whether  the 
enterprise  of  those  public-spirited  and  excellent  men  who  un- 
dertook the  erection  of  the  "  Park  Street  Church,"  Avas  not  un- 
dertaken and  conducted  in  a  spirit  of  a  very  questionable 
character.  We  have  no  doubt  they  were  pious  and  sincere 
men,  wlio  really  believed  as  they  professed  to  believe,  who  Avere 
filled  with  a  laudable  zeal,  and  who  honestly  aimed  to  oppose 

1  11  Biblical  Repertory,  (1839,)  Pp.  3G,  37. 


1838.]  PUBLicATioxs.   .  355 

error,  and  to  promote  the  reign  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
But  what  Ave  doubt  is,  whether  tliey  did  not  cah^ulate  too  nnicli 
on  carrying  their  point  by  means  of  outward  splendour  and  hu- 
man eloquence.  They  felt  that  there  were  great  learning,  and 
wealth,  and  taste,  and  eloquence  firmly  intrenched  in  Bo^^ton, 
and  to  be  met  and  opposed  by  the  friends  of  trutli.  And  tlie 
calculation  seems  to  have  been  to  meet  and  vanquish  the  adver- 
sary by  corresponding  weapons.  Hence  they  concluded  that  it 
was  necessary  for  them,  in  order  to  insure  success,  to  erect  a 
splendid  house  of  worship,  in  a  public,  prominent,  and  com- 
manding situation  ;  and  to  call  a  minister  whose  pulpit  talents 
would  enable  him  to  cope  with  the  most  admired  of  tlieir  oppo- 
nents. They  acted  upon  this  plan.  They  erected  a  church 
among  the  most  spacious  and  splendid  in  Massachusetts,  if  not 
in  the  United  States  ;  and  they  called  a  pastor  among  the  most 
eloquent  and  admired  pulpit  orators  in  the  country.  '  The 
question  which  arises  in  our  minds,  in  contemplating  these  facts, 
is,  Did  the  leaders  in  this  undertaking  go  to  work  in  the  best 
way  ?  Did  they  not  count  too  much  on  human  instrumental- 
ity ?  Were  they  not  chargeable,  in  too  great  a  degree,  witli 
"  making  flesh  their  arm  ''? 

"  '''  *         Would  not  the  undertaking  have  been  more 

likely  to  succeed,  had  it  been  entered  upon  and  pursued  witli 
less  of  a  spirit  of  worldly  calculation  ;  had  outward  splendour 
been  less  consulted  ;  had,  of  course,  a  less  profuse  expenditure 
of  funds  been  indulged,  and  a  heavy  and  oppressive  del)t  been 
more  carefully  avoided  ; — in  a  word,  had  there  been  less  reli- 
ance on  carnal  weapons,  and  more  on  those  of  a  purely  spir- 
itual kind?  We  know  nothing,  we  decide  nothing  concerning 
this  matter.  But  the  longer  we  live,  the  more  considerations  of 
this  kind  impress  us  as  deeply  important.  The  more  we  look 
above  and  beyond  human  instrumentality  the  better.  The 
King  of  Zion  will  not  give  his  glory  to  another.  None,  we  be- 
lieve, are  so  likely  to  succeed  in  spiritual  enterprises  as  those 
who  place  least  reliance  on  human  resources,  or  "  the  enticing 
words  of  man's  wisdom;"  and  most  on  the  Spirit  of  the  liv- 
ing God,  who  can  make  the  humblest  and  feeblest  instruments 
to  triumph  over  the  proudest  and  most  mighty.  We  think,  if 
the  Apostle  Paul  had  gone  to  Boston  twenty  years  ago,  to  stem 
the  tide  of  Unitarianism,  and  to  restore  "the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,"  he  would  hardly  have  adopted  just  tlie  course  that  the 
excellent  men  did  who  planned  and  executed  the  establishment 
in  "  Park  Street."  He  would  have  gone  to  work  on  a  less 
ambitious  plan,  and  on  a  smaller  scale.  He  would  not  have 
"  despised  the  day  of  small  things  ;"     but  would  have  calcula- 


356  ~  CHEQUERED   SCENES.  [CH.  36.  3. 

ted,  by  the  divine  blessing  on  much  prayer  and  patience,  to 
form  a  body  of  spiritual  worshippers,  and  as  their  number  in- 
creased, to  increase  the  means  of  their  spiritual  accommoda- 
tion." ^ 

3.     CORRESPONDENCE   AND    DIARY. 

Dr.  Miller  had  undertaken  to  write  the  Life  of  Dr. 
Nisbet,  which  he  afterwards  published.  To  Judge  Nisbet, 
of  Baltimore,  he  wrote  on  the  4th  of  April,  1838, 

*I  have  not  yet  begun  the  composition  of  the  volume.  My 
manner  of  doing  such  things  is,  to  collect  materials ;  to  digest 
the  whole  plan  in  my  mind ;  and,  having  done  this,  then  to  be- 
gin the  work  of  actual  writing.  This  last  I  do  not  calculate  to 
commence  in  less  than  four  or  five  months  *  *  as  I  have 
another  volume  now  in  hand,  which  I  commenced  six  months 
ago.' 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elliott  he  wrote  as  follows  : — 

'Rev.  and  dear  Brother,  Princeton,  August  10th,  1838. 

'Your  letter  of  the  1st  came  to  my  hands  on  the  Gtli. 
It  found  me  busily  engaged  in  assisting  to  celebrate  the  cen- 
tennial anniversary  of  our  presbytery,  in  the  city  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, where  it  was  first  constituted  on  the  8th  of  August,  1738. 
I  returned  last  evening,  and  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of 
answering  your  query. 

'  I  have  no  doubt,  whatever,  that  the  ordination  of  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  ministers  ought  to  be  sustained  as  valid ; 
and,  of  course,  could  not  conscientiously  vote  for  re-ordaining 
one  of  their  number,  who  should  connect  himself  with  our 
church.  I  presume  no  one  would  think  of  re-ordaining  a  Con- 
gregational minister  from  Connecticut  or  Massachusetts,  Avho 
should  come  into  our  body.  This  we  have,  as  a  church,  prac- 
tically decided  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Now,  it  appears  to  me, 
that  the  ecclesiastical  character  of  the  Cumber! ands  stands  on 
grounds  quite  as  good  as  that  of  our  Congregational  brethren, 
and  ought  to  be  treated  with  equal  favour. 

*But  I  consider  the  General  Assembly  of  1825  as  having  de- 
cided this  question.  If  the  baptisms  of  the  body  alluded  to 
ought  to  be  deemed  valid,  and  not  to  be  repeated,  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  point  is  settled.  This  evidently  presupposes  the 
claim  to  official  character  to  be  good. 

'As  to  the  point  of  uninterrupted  succession,  whatever  else 
may  be  said  about  it,  the  Cumberlands  can  trace  quite  as  good 
a  line,  at  least,  as  our  New  England  brethren,  about  whom  we 
have  no  scruple. 

1  11   Biblical  Repertory,  408,  409,  410. 


1838.]  CORRESPONDENCE  AND   DIARY.  857 

*I  feel  gratified,  my  dear  Sir,  in  gathering  from  your  letter, 
that,  in  these  opinions,  I  concur  with  you.  This  gives  me,  I 
confess,  much  firmer  confidence  that  my  opinion  is  right. 
What  I  have  said  agrees  entirely  with  wliat  I  liave  been  in  the 
habit  of  expressing  in  my  lectures  on  Church  Government, 
whenever  I  have  had  occasion  to  speak  to  my  pupils  concern- 
ing the  Cumberland  Presbyterians.' 

On  the  8th  of  August,  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick, 
had  celebrated,  in  the  city  which  had  given  it  its  name,  the 
centenary  anniversary  of  its  organization.  Dr.  Alexander 
preached  in  the  morning,  Dr.  Miller  in  the  afternoon,  and 
botli  sermons  were  requested  for  publication. 

In  his  diary,  Dr.  Miller  says, 

'August,  1838.     I  have  some  reason  to   hope  that  the  Lord 

has  been  pleased  to  impart  his  grace  to  my  son, .     I  can 

hardly  express  the  gratification  I  feel  in  cherishing  this  hope. 
He  has  always  been  a  moral,  amiable  and  dutiful  son.  But 
now,  I  trust,  the  Holy  Spirit  has  taken  a  saving  hold  of  his 
heart.  A  sermon  delivered  by  Professor  J.  Addison  Alexan- 
der, at  an  evening  service  in  the  church  in  this  place,  seems  to 
have  been  first  blessed  to  his  awakening.  God  grant  that  the 
dear  boy  may  not  deceive  himself  with  a  false  hojie.' 

'September  10,  1838.     I  am  happy  in  being  able  to  record, 

that  my  son, ,  a  few  days  ago,  united  himself  with  the 

Lord's  people  by  sitting  down  at  a  sacramental  table.  He 
cherishes  the  hope  that  he  has  given  himself  to  the  Lord  in  an 
everlasting  covenant.  May  the  Lord,  in  the  riches  of  his  grace, 
make  him  sincere  and  devoted !  He  is,  I  am  rejoiced  to  say, 
looking  toward  the  holy  ministry,  and  has  thoughts  of  entering 
the  Seminary  this  fall.' 

'  October  31,  1838.  I  am  sixty-nine  years  old.  Having  ob- 
tained help  of  God,  I  continue  to  this  day ;  and  have  abundant 
reason  to  bear  witness  for  him,  that  he  is  a  covenant-keej)ing, 
faithful  and  merciful  God.  Oh,  how  many  mercies  have  I  ex- 
perienced during  the  past  year!  And,  amidst  all  these  mer- 
cies, how  multiplied  and  aggravated  have  been  my  sins !  When 
I  look  back  for  twelve  months,  and  ask  how  much  I  have  done, 
during  that  time,  for  the  best  of  Masters,  compared  with  what 
I  ought  to  have  done,  and  with  what  others  have  done,  I  feel 
called  upon  to  humble  myself  before  God  in  the  deepest  abase- 
ment, and  to  "repent  in  dust  and  ashes."  And  I  ieel  the  more 
inexcusable  in  this  matter,  when  I  recollect  that  the  service  of 
Christ  is  perfect  freedom ;  that  his  ways  are  ways  of  i)leasant- 
ness,  and  all  his  paths  peace.     Oh,  how  inexcusable  for  those 


358  CHEQUEEED    SCENES.  [CII.  36.  3. 

who  bear  the  name  of  Christ,  and  especially  for  those  who  bear 
the  office  of  his  ambassadors,  to  be  so  languid  and  indolent  in 
his  service ;  when  that  service  is  but  another  name  for  happi- 
ness ! 

'I  desire,  this  day,  to  make  a  new  and  unreserved  dedication 
of  myself  to  the  service  of  God ;  and  although  all  my  experi- 
ence leads  me,  not  only  to  be  very  distrustful  of  my  own  heart, 
but  also  to  place  no  dependence  ^vhatever  upon  the  strength  of 
my  own  resolutions,  and  the  firmness  of  my  own  purposes ;  yet 
I  dare  not  decline  this  dedication.  Here  am  I,  Lord  !  I  am 
thine  bj  creation ;  I  am  thine  by  preservation ;  I  trust  I  am 
thine,Jby  a  holy  regeneration  and  a  gracious  adoption ;  and,  if 
I  am  not  self  deceived,  it  is  my  supreme  desire  to  be  thine  in 
heart  and  life,  in  soul  and  body,  now  and  forever. 

'  I  would,  therefore,  on  this  31st  day  of  October,  1838,  sol- 
emnly renew  my  dedication  to  the  service  of  God,  in  and 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  am,  indeed,  most  unworthy. 
I  have  been  a  miserable  sinner  ever  since  I  came  into  being. 
My  nature  is  polluted  ;  my  heart  is  corrupt  ;  I  am  a  guilty  and 
vile  transgressor  before  God;  and  deserve  to  be  forever  cast 
off,  and  made  as  miserable  as  I  have  made  myself  sinful.  But, 
blessed  be  his  holy  name  ! — there  is  forgiveness  with  him  that 
he  may  be  feared  :  with  him  is  plenteous  redemption.  This  is 
my  hope.  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  !"  "  This,"  if  I  am  not  deceived,  "  is 
my  Beloved,  and  this  is  my  Friend."  He  is  the  Lord  my 
righteousness,  and  the  Lord  my  strength.  Here  I  desire  to  rest 
for  time  and  eternity.  In  this  new  and  living  way  would  I  ap- 
proach my  Father  in  heaven.  I  w^ould  consecrate  myself,  with 
all  I  have  and  am,  to  his  most  blessed  service.  Lord  Jesus, 
accept  of  the  humble  dedication  !  Make  me  sincere.  Help 
me  to  devote  myself,  with  all  my  faculties,  and  powers,  and 
possessions  to  thee.  I  would  be  pardoned  through  the  blood  of 
Christ,  sanctified  by  his  Spirit,  adorned  with  his  image,  and 
prepared,  by  the  unsearchable  riches  of  his  grace,  for  the  holy 
joys  of  heaven.  Lord  Jesus !  dispose  of  me  as  thou  wilt,  and, 
when  I  have  done  thy  will  here,  receive  me,  though  most  un\vor- 
thy,  to  the  glories  of  thy  presence  hereafter;  and  there  may  I  ap- 
pear clothed  in  the  righteousness  and  bearing  the  likeness  of  my 
dear  Saviour.  On  this  blessed  foundation  would  I  place  all 
my  hopes.  In  this  new,  and  living,  and  most  glorious  way  of 
imputed  righteousness,  and  in  the  purifying  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  I  would  rejoice  and  make  my  boast.  As  I  have  borne 
the  image  of  the  earthly.  Oh,  that  I  may,  more  and  more,  bear 
the  image  of  the  heavenly  !     Oh !  that  my  conversation  may  be 


1838.]  CORRESPONDENCE  AND  DIARY.  359 

in  heaven:  may  my  heart  be  there  also;  and  may  I  be  daily 
ascending  thither  in  holy  contemplation  and  spiritual  desires. 
Amen !  Amen  ! 

'Samuel  IMiller.' 

'November  23,1838.  My  dear  son, ,  has  just  taken  his  place 

in  our  Seminary  as  a  student  of  theology.  I  have  been  ever 
anxious  that  all  my  sons  should  be  ministers  of  the  Gospel ; 
and  as  each  one,  in  succession,  made  choice  of  a  profession  Ibr 
life,  my  heart  almost  sunk  within  me  to  hud  that  they  all,  with 
one  accord,  turned  away  from  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  to 
some  secular  calling.  I  began  to  fear  that  no  one  of  them 
would  choose  the  best  of  all  employments.     At  length,  however, 

I  am  gratified  to  find turning  his  mind  toward  this  noble, 

heavenly  profession.  The  Lord  grant  that  he  may  be  sincere. 
The  Lord  grant  that  he  may  be  a  minister  after  his  own  heart ! 
Oh  that  he  may  be  like  Christ  and  glorify  Christ!  I  Would 
unspeakably  rather,  if  I  know  my  own  heart,  see  him  an  al)ie, 
faithful,  successful  minister  of  the  gospel,  than  President  of 
the  United  States,  or  the  occupant  of  an  imperial  throne." 

In  a  letter  to  his  son,  a  practitioner  of  law,  Dr.  Miller 
said,  on  the  4th  of  October, 

'  P.  S.  My  dear  son,  I  repeat,  the  fiftieth  time — Do  not  be 
discouraged  about  getting  into  business.  It  will  be  a  very  slow 
affair.  I  fully  expect  that,  for  four  or  five  years  to  come,  your 
largest  fees  will  be  from  your  father.  I  shall  not  be  at  all  dis- 
couraged if  this  should  prove  to  be  the  case.  Be  thankful  that 
you  have  a  father,  whom  God  enables  to  help  you.' 

To  Henry  Ledyard,  Esquire,  of  Xcw  York,  Dr.  Miller 
wrote  the  letter  following,  which  explains  itself. 

*  My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  December  1,  If^o^. 

'I  received  last  evening  your  kind  letter  of  >«ovembcr 
26th,  together  with  the  "Olive  wood  cane,  cut  with  your  own 
hands  on  the  ^Mount  of  Olives,"  which  accompanied  it. 

'For  this  testimonial  of  your  highly  valued  friend-hip,  and 
of  your  kind  recollection  when  in  a  far  distant  land,  I  am  truly 
thankful,  and  beg  you  to  accept  of  my  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments. 

'It  gratifies  me,  too,  my  dear  Sir,  not  a  little,  to  find  that, 
amidst  all  the  allurements  of  foreign  travel,  the  a^^sociations 
which  your  letter  recognizes  with  Jerusalem,  and  it:?  deeply 
interesting  history  and  localities,  so  strongly  occupied  your 
mind,  when  surveying  them.  I  cannot  frame  a  more  favorable 
wish  for  you,  than  that  the  great  scenes,  and  the  transcen<lently 
glorious  persons  and  events,  which  were  once  connected  with 


360  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  3. 

that  city,  may  ever  be  the  objects  of  your  practical  attention, 
and  your  supreme  interest.  May  you  be  so  happy  as  to  live 
under  the  smiles  and  the  benediction  of  Him  who  suffered  and 
died  there  for  the  sins  of  the  world ;  and  habitually  look  forward 
to  the  "Jerusalem  which  is  above"  as  your  eternal  home! 

*Mrs.  Miller  and  myself  feel  much  indebted  for  the  kind  in- 
vitation which  you  convey  from  our  valued  friend,  your  Mother, 
to  visit  the  city  before  the  commencement  of  the  new  year,  and 
make  your  house  our  home.  The  winter  is  advancing  so  rapidly, 
that  I  fear  we  cannot  deem  it  ^^rudent  to  venture  on  such  an 
excursion  before  the  return  of  a  milder  season.  When  we  do 
find  it  convenient  to  visit  the  city,  it  will  give  us  j)leasure  to 
accept  of  your  friendly  hospitality. 

'  With  respectful  salutations  to  your  Mother,  in  which  Mrs. 
Miller  joins,  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  with  much  regard, 

'  Your  obliged  friend  and  servant, 

'  Henry  Ledyard,  Esquire.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1839,  began,  in  Philadelphia,  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  Judge  Rogers  sitting 
at  Nisi  Prills^  the  trial  of  the  case  of  the  New  and  Old 
School,  founded  upon  the  proceedings  detailed  in  the  chapter 
immediately  preceding  this.  The  action  had  been  com- 
menced soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Assembly  of 
1838.  On  the  26th  of  March,  receiving  from  the  Judge  a 
charge  strongly  in  favour  of  the  New  School,  the  jury  re- 
tired, and,  in  about  one  hour,  brought  in  a  verdict  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  charge.  Upon  the  17th  of  April,  before 
the  Court  in  bank,  the  argument  commenced,  on  a  motion 
for  a  new  trial,  and  was  continued  until  the  27th,  inclusive, 
of  the  same  month.  Mr.  Sergeant,  who  was  one  of  the 
counsel  for  the  Old  School,  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller  on  the  6th 
of  May, 

*The  danger,  I  believe,  is  over.  The  opinion  will  be  delivered 
on  Wednesday.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  what  it  will  be,  but 
no  one  seems  to  doubt  that  the  verdict  will  be  set  aside,  and 
upon  grounds  which  will  end  the  controversy.' 

On  the  8th,  he  wrote  again  as  follows : — 

'My  dear  Sir,  Philadeliihia,  May  8th,  1839. 

'The  Chief  Justice  delivered  the  opinion  this  morning, 
setting  aside  the  verdict,  upon  grounds  which  finally  decide  the 
whole  matter.  Judge  Rogers  stated  that  he  adhered  to  the 
opinion  framed  at  the  trial. 


1839.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  3Gl 

'There  was  a  great  assemblage  to  hear  the  decision,  and  one 
of  the  most  gratifying  circumstances  in  the  scene  was  the  great 
decorum  which  accompanied  and  followed  the  annunciation. 
It  was  in  strong  contrast  with  what  occurred  at  the  time  of  the 
charge.  This  was,  in  part,  owing  to  the  decision's  having  been 
anticipated,  and  men's  minds  being  prepared  for  it,  but  also, 
in  part,  to  the  character  of  our  friends.  The  joy  felt  was  not 
less,  perhaps  greater,  and  certainly  deeper  and  more  pure.  But 
there  was  no  ebullition — no  clapping  of  wings  and  crowing. 
The  opinion  goes  with  us,  out  and  out,  upon  every  point. 

*I  sincerely  congratulate  you  that  peace  is  restored,  without 
sacrifice,  and  that  the  power  will  remain  where  it  will  be  em- 
ployed only  for  the  good  of  the  Church.  The  next  Assembly 
will  meet  in  comfort,  and  be  secured  from  the  disturbance  which, 
of  late  years,  has  been  so  frequent,  inasmuch  as  the  refractory 
members  have  been  removed.  I  hope,  and  I  believe,  there  Svill 
be  no  undue  triumph.  On  the  other  hand,  there  must  not  be 
too  much  generosity;  which  is  the  greater  danger,  as  it  some- 
times leads  to  injustice.  If  it  be  reasonably  practicable,  it 
seems  to  me  that  Doctor  Elliott  ought  to  have  some  special 
mark  of  regard  and  confidence.  He  has  been  at  a  post  of  dan- 
ger, where  he  has  well  performed  his  duty,  but  where  he  could 
not  escape  suffering.  He  is  entitled  to  much  consideration  from 
those  for  whom  he  was  thus  exposed.  Would  it  be  fit  to  make 
him  moderator  of  the  next  Assembly?  Dr.  McDowell,  too, 
and  jMr.  Krebs  have  done  their  duty  manfully. 

'Give  my  congratulations  also  to  sister.  I  have  a  little 
curiosity  to  know  what  the  precise  point  of  consolation  and 
support  was  which  she  found  in  the  book  of  Esther. 

'  Yours  very  truly, 
'Rev'd  Doctor  Miller.  John  Sergeant.' 

To  one  of  his  sons,  on  the  11th  of  May,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 
*I  think  exceedingly  well  of  Judge  Gibson's  written  opinion 
of  the  court — i.  e.  of  the  substance  of  it.    It  is  just  the  thing  that 
we  could  have  wished  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  very  badly  written — 
some  parts  of  it  anything  but  lucid,  and  others  more  like  the 
composition  of  a  sophomore  than  of  a  judge  of  sixty.     On  one 
or  two  points,  he  seems  to  me  to  be  not  only  good,  but  too  good' 
Eio^ht  davs  before,  he  had  ^Yritten  to  the  same  son, 
'I  have  an  increasing  uneasiness  about  you.     I  am  told  you 
look  thin;  and  I  wonder  you  are  not  thinner,  and  even  sick,  in 
consequence  of  what  you   have  gone  through  within  the  last 
seven  or  eight  weeks.      My  dear  son,    rely  upon  it,  you  are 
standing  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice;  and  if  you  go  a  little  too 
Vol.  II.— 29 


3G2  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.   36.   4. 

far,  your  health  may  be  irreparably  and  fatally  undermined.  I 
have  two  pieces  of  advice  to  give  you. 

'1.  As  long  as  your  pressure  of  writing  continues,  double 
vour  quantity  of  exercise.  You  may  rest  assured,  this  is  true 
economy  of  time.  You  will  be  able  to  accomplish  far  more  in 
a  given  week,  or  month,  by  taking  this  course. 

'  2.  As  long  as  you  continue  thus  extremely  busy  in  a  seden- 
tary way,  be  very  abstemious  in  diet.  This  alone  is,  under 
God,  one  of  the  best  defences  against  injury  by  excessive  appli- 
cation to  study.  If  I  had  a  great  and  protracted  effort  to  make 
in  composition,  I  would  live  the  greater  part  of  the  time  on  tea 
and  crackers.' 

4.     Baptisms  and  Funerals. 

Writing  to  the  Rev.  James  T.  English,  on  the  19th  of 
August,  in  answer  to  a  letter  of  inquiry.  Dr.  Miller  said, 

'1  do  not  wonder  that  the  subject  of  the  baptism  of  children 
perplexes  you;  for  although  there  is  no  subject  on  which  my 
mind  is  more  fully  made  up  than  on  that  of  Pedobaptism — no 
point  which  appears  to  me  more  incontestably  plain,  from  both 
Scripture  and  ecclesiastical  history;  yet  "^  ^  the  misman- 
agement of  that  ordinance,  in  the  Christian  church,  has  given 
rise  to  a  great  deal  of  perplexity  and  difficulty.  The  truth  is, 
as  matters  now  stand,  whatever  ground  a  pastor  may  take  on 
this  subject,  he  will  find  himself  reduced  to  straits  on  some  ac- 
counts, unless  he  adopt  the  most  lax  plan,  viz. — to  baptize  all 
children,  without  exception,  for  w^hom  the  ordinance  is  re- 
quested. 

'  The  ground  which  I  take,  and  which  appears  to  me  attended 
with  fewest  difficulties,  is  the  following : — 

*1.  I  consider  baptism  as  a  seal  of  the  same  covenant  with 
the  Lord's  supper,  and  inferring  the  same  qualifications. 

'  2.  If  an  adult  desires  baptism  for  himself,  or  for  his  infant 
children,  I  would  consider  the  same  qualifications  necessary,  as 
I  would,  if  he  applied  for  admission  to  the  Lord's  table.  This 
is  indispensable,  because  in  his  own  baptism,  or  in  the  baptism 
of  his  children,  he  makes  a  profession  of  faith  which  implies 
genuine  reliance  on  the  Saviour,  and,  of  course,  genuine  friend- 
ship to  him. 

'  3.  Still  I  would  not  make  it  indispensable  to  a  man's  having 
his  children  baptized,  that  he  should  have  previously  come  to 
the  Lord's  table.  You,  of  course,  would  not  require  one  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  table  before  he  was  baptized  himself:  you 
would  not  even  allow  him  to  do  so.  *  ^  But  if,  after  ex- 
amining a  parent,  who  applies  for  baptism  for  his  children,  I 


1839.]  BAPTISMS    AND    FUNERALS.  363 

feel  satisfied  that  I  would  be  willing  to  admit  him  to  tlie  Lord's 
table,  if  he  applied  for  it,  I  would,  without  hesitation,  baptize 
his  child. 

'I  am  more  free  and  liberal  in  the  baptism  of  e]iil(bvn  than 
many  of  my  brethren ;  but  I  cannot  adopt  the  plan  of  admitting 
all.  If  I  were  to  consent  to  baptize  the  children  of  intemperate, 
profane,  or  entirely  careless  people,  I  should  consider  myself  as 
prostituting  an  ordinance  of  God.  But,  if  parents  are  strictly 
moral,  have  competent  knowledge,  appear  truly  serious,  and 
l^rofess  a  sincere  desire  to  follow  Christ,  and  that  they  and  their 
children  may  be  within  the  bonds  of  the  Xew  Covenant,  1  ])ap- 
tize  their  children  without  hesitation;  telling  them,  at  the  same 
time,  that  it  is  their  duty  and  privilege  to  come  to  the  Lord's 
table;  but  not  compelling  them  to  come,  under  the  penalty  of 
refusing  baptism  to  their  children.' 

Another  letter,  on  the  same  subject,  may  best  be  inserted 
here,  although  written  about  nine  years  later.  It  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Huntington.  Without  differing, 
at  all,  from  the  other  in  principle,  it  differs  otherwise  so 
much,  that  it  will  be  deemed  repetitious  to  only  the  slightest 
extent.     It  was  dated  the  27th  of  October,  1848. 

'When  I  first  settled  as  a  pastor  in  Xew  York,  fifty-five  years 
ago,  I  found  what  is  popularly  denominated  the  lax  i)lan  of 
baptism  in  universal  use  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  That  is, 
it  was  not  required  that  either  irdrent  should  be  a  communicant 
in  order  to  open  the  way  for  the  baptism  of  their  children. 
But,  if  the  parents  were  of  unimpeached  moral  character,  had 
been  baptized  themselves,  had  competent  knowledge,  were  sub- 
stantially orthodox  in  their  doctrinal  views,  and  stood  ready  U> 
make  the  profession  which  the  baptismal  rite  included,  I  bap- 
tized their  children.  This  had  been  the  case  in  my  father's 
congregation,  in  Dover,  Delaware,  in  which  I  had  been  brought 
up,  and  in  which  I  had  been  first  admitted  to  comnmnion  ;  and  1 
fell  into  it  naturally,  and  without  difficulty,  and  have  i)ractised 
it  ever  since. 

'  In  administering  the  ordinance,  I  was  accustomed  to  make 
use  of  the  following  formula,  by  which  you  will  be  enabled  to 
judge  of  the profemou  that  I  speak  of  as  included  in  the  bap- 
tismal rite. 

'  "Do  you,  the  parents  of  this  child,  profess  that  it  is  your  de- 
sire to  dedicate  him  to  God  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism?  Is 
this  your  profession? 

*  "Baptism  is  a  holy  ordinance  instituted  by  Christ,  in  which 
by  washing  with  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son  and 


364  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  4. 

the  Holy  Gliost,  is  sigDified  our  need  of  the  pardoning  and  re- 
newing grace  of  God  by  a  crucified  Redeemer,  etc.  '^  *  You, 
therefore,  the  parents  of  this  child,  in  presenting  him  before 
God  to  be  baptized,  make  a  solemn  profession,  and  lay  your- 
selves under  very  solemn  obligations.  The  amount  of  your 
profession  is,  that  you  yourselves  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  you  rely  upon  him  for  pardoning  mercy  and  sanc- 
tifying grace  yourselves,  and  that  you  desire  this,  your  child, 
to  be  made  a  partaker  of  the  same  saving  benefits.  It  will 
therefore  be  your  duty,  in  all  time  to  come,  to  treat  this  child 
as  one  that  you  have  given  away  to  God ;  to  train  him  up  in 
"the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord";  to  instruct  him  in 
the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  as  contained  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  excellently  summed  up  in  the  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Catechisms  of  our  church ;  to  pray  with  him  and  for 
him,  and  teach  him  to  pray;  and,  in  a  word,  to  endeavor,  by 
precept  and  example,  to  educate  him  for  the  Church  of  God 
and  for  the  heavenly  inheritance.  Do  you  promise,  as  God 
shall  help  you,  that  you  will  endeavor  to  live  in  the  discharge 
of  these  duties?" 

'  I  then  made  a  short  prayer,  baptized  the  child,  and  closed 
with  another  short  prayer. 

'  A  solemn  mode  of  admiuistering  baptism,  I  have  sometimes 
thought,  has  a  strong  tendency  to  make  a  just  impression  of  its 
nature,  and,  of  course,  to  deter  the  careless  from  applying  for 
it,  especially  if,  after  baptism,  you  often,  in  prayer  and  preach- 
ing, remind  parert?  of  the  duties  which  the  ordinance  im- 
plies. 

*  You  will  perceive,  in  a  moment,  that  the  above  profession  can 
be  made  only  by  a  real  believer.  And  yet  I  have  no  doubt  that 
it  was  often  made  by  persons  who  were  not  renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  their  minds.  And  I  have  quite  as  little  doubt,  that  where 
no  children  but  those  of  communicants  are  baptized,  the  same 
want  of  sincerity,  perhaps  not  quite  so  often,  yet  very  often,  in 
fact,  occurs.  So  that  insincere  profession  is  not  prevented  in 
either  case. 

*  I  found,  or  thought  I  found,  the  above  mentioned  plan  to 
operate  most  happily  and  beneficially,  so  far  as  my  experience 
went.  I  observed  that  some  of  my  brethren  out  of  New  York, 
who  refused  to  baptize  the  children  of  any  but  communicants, 
never  failed  to  drive  off  a  number  of  the  most  desirable  mem- 
bers of  their  congregations  to  difterent  sects  around  them  ;  and 
even  in  cases  where  they  did  not  leave  the  Presbyterian  church, 
their  children  remained  unbaptized,  and  the  pastors  had  no  hold 
of  them,  and  could  not  put  in  Christ's  claim  to  them  and  their 


1839.]  BAPTISMS    AND    FUNERALS.  3G5 

children.  I  found  that  my  plan  gave  me  a  great  advantage 
in  addressing  parents,  and  gave  a  hohl  on  numbers  who  would 
have  been,  otherwise,  out  of  my  reach. 

*I  am  aware,  that  on  this  phm,  cases  will  sometimes  occur, 
which  will  be  perplexing,  and  give  rise  to  some  difficulty.  But, 
on  the  whole,  I  have  never  yet  seen  occasion  to  change  my 
course  as  to  this  point.  But  the  truth  is,  adopt  what  j)lan  you 
will,  you  will  iind  some  perplexing  ca>cs,  unless,  indoe<l,  vou  go 
to  the  utmost  extent  of  laxness,  and  baptize  every  childUiat  is 
offered,  without  scruple  or  exception,  which  I  trust  you  will 
never  think  of  doing. 

*  In  regard  to  funerals,  I  think  very  much  depends  on  the 
custom  of  the  neighborhood.  I  should  not  be  willing  suddenly 
to  adopt  any  violent  departure  from  the  uniform  ])ractice  of  those 
around  me.  I  am,  myself,  fond  of  dropping  a  few  words,  in  a 
few  pointed,  pithy  sentences  at  the  grave,  and  sometimes,  but 
not  always,  uttering  three  or  four  sentences  of  prayer.  1  say, 
not  always  ;  for  I  would  give  the  people  to  see  by  my  practice, 
in  very  cold,  or  very  stormy  weather,  that  I  did  not  mean  to  be 
the  absolute  slave  of  any  custom.  I  should  l)e  the  more  dis- 
posed to  say  a  few  words  at  the  grave,  especially  where  it  was 
wished  or  expected,  if  I  lived  in  a  region  where  the  Episcopal 
burial  ssrvice  was  often  repeated.  But  I  would  always  try  to 
have  the  principal  part  of  the  public  service,  on  such  occa- 
sions, in  the  church,  or  in  the  dwelling  of  the  deceased,  and 
say  only  a  few  solemn,  emphatic  words,  at  the  grave.  All  that 
is  said  there,  on  ordinary  occasions,  prayer  and  all,  ought  not 
to  exceed  live  minutes,  consisting,  usually,  of  some  pointed  sol- 
emn passages  of  Scripture. 

'  ^''  *  Let  me  urge  you  to  pay  particular  atten- 

tion to  the  children  and  young  people.  ^lake  a  list  of  them. 
Meet  them,  if  possible,  once  a  week,  or  once  a  fortnight.  Recog- 
nize their  persons.  Call  them  by  name,  etc.  God  bless  and  guide 
you,  my  dear  young  friend. 

'  Very  sincerely  and  afl'ectionately, 
*  Samuel  Miller. 

'Since  sealing  my  letter  it  has  occurred  to  me  to  ask,  u})on 
what  principle  we  can  withhold  one  privilege,  because  another 
is  not  attended  upon.  Suppose  a  man  in  the  communion  of 
the  church  should  omit  to  have  his  children  bapti/cd,  should 
we,  because  he  omitted  a  known  and  plain  duty,  set  up  a  bar, 
and  refuse  him  the  sacramental  supper  ?  I  think  not.  I  never 
could  see  the  propriety  of  making  one  ordinance  a  whip  to  drive 
to  another.' 


366  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  4. 

The  following  letter  was  written  to  the  Rev.  William  J. 
Monteith,  of  Broadalbin,  New  York,  who  referred  the  case 
mentioned  to  Dr.  Miller,  for  the  satisfaction  of  a  person, 
who  had  applied  to  the  church  of  which  he  was  pastor  for 
admission  and  baptism,  thinking  that  her  baptism,  in  the 
Dutch  Church,  when  she  was  an  infant,  had  been  invalid, 
because  neither  of  her  parents  had  been  a  communicant. 
It  bears  the  date  of  the  23d  of  December,  1840. 

*I  am  no  friend  to  the  administration  of  baptism  upon  the 
half-ivay  covenant  plan,  as  I  do  not  think  that  plan  can  be  de- 
fended. But,  at  the  same  time,  I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt 
that  baptisms  administered  upon  that  j^lan  are  just  as  valid  as 
any  other.  In  fact,  I  suppose  that  any  baptism,  dispensed  by 
a  regular  minister  of  the  gospel,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Tri- 
nity, and  in  connexion  with  a  church  which  holds  to  the  fun- 
damentals of  religion,  ought  to  be  sustained,  without  hesitation, 
as  perfectly  valid.  Our  Episcopal  brethren  baptize  all  the 
children  that  are  presented  to  them,  covenant  or  no  covenant, 
and  on  the  principle  of  baptismal  regeneration;  but  would  you 
re-baptize  the  children  baptized  by  them  ?  I  take  for  granted 
that  no  Presbyterian  would  think,  for  a  moment,  of  such  a 
thing. 

'Nothing,  I  apprehend,  can  vitiate  a  baptism  but  one  of  three 
things: — -first,  that  the  man  who  administers  it  is  not  a  regu- 
larly ordained  minister  of  the  gospel;  or,  secondly,  that  he  is 
radically  unsound  in  the  faith ;  or,  thirdly,  that  the  baptism  was 
not  performed  in  the  name  of  the  blessed  Trinity.  Now,  none 
of  these  defects  exist,  as  regards  the  mass  of  the  baptisms  per- 
formed on  the  half-way  covenant  plan.  *  =}=  j  ^m  now 
speaking  of  those  baptisms  which  were  administered  in  what 
we  popularly  call  the  Orthodox  churches  in  New  England. 
For  as  to  those  which  were  performed  among  the  Socinians  and 
Arians  of  that  country,  our  General  Assembly  has  decided  that 
they  ought  not  to  be  sustained ;  not  because  they  were  admi- 
nistered upon  the  half-way  covenant  plan,  or  some  plan  even 
greatly  worse;  but  because  their  administrators  did  not  believe 
the  gospel — in  other  words,  could  not  be  regarded  as  belonging 
to  the  Church  of  Christ  at  all.  This  was  their  decision  in  re- 
spect to  baptisms  administered  by  Dr.  Priestley  and  his  disci- 
ples.    ''^'     * 

*I  should  say  the  same  of  the  baptisms  performed  in  the 
Dutch  Church,  or  in  any  other  Church,  in  the  case  of  children 
of  non-professors.  If  you  pronounce  these  invalid,  you  will, 
ipso  facto,  reject  full  one-third  of  all  the  baptisms  administered 


1839.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  367 

in   the  Presbyterian  Church  connected  with  our  (Jeneral  As- 
sembly.' 

The  question,  before  referred  to,  as  to  the  validity  of 
Romish  baptisms,  is  one  that  will  not  cease  to  divide  Pro- 
testants. When  Dr.  Miller  was  consulted,  on  behalf  of  a 
mother  whose  child  had  been  baptized  in  the  Papal  com- 
munion, he  recognized  the  fact,  that  a  change  of  opinion, 
in  this  respect,  was  coming  over  the  Presbyterian  Churcli — 
that  its  younger  ministers  generally  decided  in  favor  of  re- 
baptizing  ;  yet  for  himself  he  still  expressed  the  conviction 
that  the  Reformers  and  Presbyterian  Fathers  had  been  in 
the  right,  advising  the  mother  to  be  content,  if  possible, 
with  the  baptism  which  her  child  had  already  received,  and 
to  be  careful  only  to  bring  it  up  in  the  nurture  and  admo- 
nition of  the  Lord.  She  thankfully  received  the  advice, 
and  gave  herself  no  further  concern  about  the  matter. 

5.     CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY. 

The  letter  which  follows  was  written  to  one  of  the  Secre- 
taries of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions. 

*  Rev'd  and  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  September  7,  1839. 

'It  is  now  twenty-seven,  or  twenty-eight,  years  since  I  have 
had  the  privilege  and  the  honour  to  be  a  member  of  your  Board. 
On  this  happy  connection,  and  en  all  the  pleasure  which  has 
attended  our  meetings,  from  year  to  year,  and  the  success  witli 
which  our  counsels  and  labours  have  been  crowned,  I  look 
back  with  a  degree  of  gratification  which  it  would  not  be  easy 
for  me  to  express. 

'  My  interest  in  the  Board,  and  my  cordial  wishes  for  its 
prosperity  and  usefulness,  are  not  diminished.  It  would  lhvc 
me  unfeigned  pleasure  to  continue  my  connection  with  it.  But, 
as  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  which  it  is  my  pri- 
vilege and  happiness  to  be  a  minister,  has  formed  a  Board  of 
Missions  of  her  own,  it  seems  to  be  incumbent  on  nie  to  l)estow 
my  first  and  principal  attention  on  this.  And  as  I  have  found, 
on  several  occasions,  that  my  remaining  a  corporate  member  of 
the  American  Board,  while  I  hold  an  important  office  in  the 
General  Assembly's  Board,  is  misapprehended,  and  sometimes 
misrepresented,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  resiirn  tliat  membership; 
and  you  will  be  pleased  to  consider  this  letter  as  conveying  to 
the  Board  my  resignation  accordingly. 


368  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  5. 

*  I  shall  never  cease  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  the  proceed- 
ings and  success  of  your  venerable  body,  and  to  pray  for  the 
divine  blessing  on  all  its  efforts. 

'May  the  presence  and  guidance  of  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church  be  abundantly  vouchsafed  at  your  approaching  and  all 
future  meetings,  and  continually  attend  all  your  plans  and 
labours ! 

'  I  am,  rev'd  and  dear  sir,  your  respectful  and  affectionate 
brother  in  Christ,  Saml.  Miller. 

'Rev.  Dr.  Anderson.' 

The  followinor  letter  from  Dr.  Miller  to  Dr.  Nettleton 
bears  the  date  of  the  5th  of  October,  1839. 

'I  take  great  pleasure  in  announcing  to  you,  that,  at  the 
Commencement  in  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  last  week, 
the  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  on  my  excellent  and  beloved 
Friend,  the  Eev'd  Asahel  JSfeUleton,  of  Connecticut. 

'  This  literary  honor  is  of  Princeton  origin.  Your  friends 
here,  with  one  consent,  were  of  the  opinion,  that  this  testimo- 
nial of  respect  ought  to  be  bestowed,  and,  indeed,  ought  long 
ago  to  have  been  conferred,  on  a  brother  who  has  long  deserved 
so  well  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  would  have  been  conferred 
here,  this  fall,  had  it  not  been  for  some  peculiar  circumstances, 
not  referable  to  you  at  all,  which  rendered  it  impracticable. 
In  these  circumstances,  it  was  judged  best  to  cause  the  thing  to 
be  done,  without  the  loss  of  a  single  year,  elscAvhere. 

'Your  friends  here,  my  dear  Brother,  greatly  rejoice  in  this 
event.  For,  although  they  know  that  these  honors  are  trifles 
in  themselves,  and  that  you  so  regard  them;  yet,  amidst  the 
conflicts  through  which  you  have  for  some  time  been,  and  are 
now,  passing,  we  take  pleasure  in  all  public  testimonials  of  re- 
spect to  one  whom  we  so  cordially  revere.' 

In  his  diary  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'  October  31,  1839.  This  day  completes  my  seventieth  year. 
I  spend  it  at  home  in  quietness  and  retirement.  I  returned,  last 
evening,  from  a  short  visit  to  New  York.  I  am  more  and  more 
out  of  my  element  amidst  the  bustle,  noise  and  allurements  of  a 
large  city.  They  distract  the  mind,  lead  it  away  from  the 
highest  and  best  objects,  and  are,  of  course,  unfriendly  to  spiritual 
edification  and  comfort.  Oh,  how  delightful  to  be  in  the  bosom 
of  my  own  family ;  to  enjoy  the  counsels  and  the  sanctified 
wisdom  of  the  best  of  Avives ;  and  to  be  united  with  her  in  hope 
and  prayer ! 

'  Many  years  ago  my  health  was  very  infirm,  and  rather  de- 
clining ;  but  having   "  obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto 


1839.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  3G9 

this  day;"  and  am  now  permitted  to  enjoy  a  measure  of  health 
and  strength,  which  I  suppose  to  be  rather  uncommon  at  my 
time  of  life.  Oh,  that  I  could  say,  with  equal  coniidence,  my 
soul  prospers  and  is  in  health !  I  think  I  can  truly  say, 
that  I  am  more  sensible  than  formerly  of  the  vanity  of  the 
world,  more  desirous  of  being  weaned  from  it,  and  more  truly 
anxious  to  be  like  Christ,  and  to  glorify  Christ,  than  in  any 
former  year  of  my  life.  But,  alas!  how  unspeakably  do  I  fall 
short,  in  all  these  respects,  of  what  I  ought  to  be  !  O  j^ord  teach 
me  thy  way;  show  me  thy  path  ;  lead  me  in  thy  truth  and 
guide  me ;  what  I  know  not,  teach  thou  me ;  and  wherein  I 
have  done  iniquity,  grant  that  I  may  do  so  no  more ! 

'  I  once  thought,  that,  if  I  lived  to  my  present  age,  I  should 
habitually  feel  myself  on  the  brink  of  eternity,  and  keej)  the 
close  of  life  and  the  judgment  seat  constantly  in  view.  Yet  I 
do  not  find  this  expectation  realized.  Alas  !  how  unspeakable 
the  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart !  How  prone  arc  even 
the  old  and  grey-headed  to  forget  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  to 
be  borne  away  by  secular  objects  and  plans,  at  times  nearly  as 
much  as  in  the  heyday  of  youthful  hope !  Truly  "  the  heart 
is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked;  who  can 
know  it?" 

'  Oh,  that  I  might  be  taught  more  effectually  the  emptiness 
of  all  portions  other  than  a  reconciled  God  and  Father  in 
Christ !     God  of  all  grace  !  teack  me  by  thy  good  Spirit, 

"  How  vain  are  all  things  here  balow — 
How  false  and  yet  how  fair." 

Oh,  make  me  thankful,  truly  thankful,  for  my  prolonged  life  ; 
for  my  multiplied  mercies  ;  especially  for  the  greatest,  richest  of 
all  gifts-,  the  unspeakable  gift  of  a  Saviour  ;  and  the  glory  of 
that  inheritance  which  he  has  purchased  with  his  own  ])recious 
blood.  Help  me  to  feel  the  value  of  every  hour,  and  to  fill 
up  every  day  with  faithfully  serving  my  generation  by  the  will 
of  God.  Oh,  to  be  more  diligent  and  self-denying  in  time  to 
come  I' 

On  the  11th  of  November,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  one  of 
his  sons, 

'  I  gather  from  J.,  that  you  wished  for  some  expression 
of  my  opinion  respecting  the  best  investment  of  the  money  in 
your  uncle's  hands.  I  have  nothing,  my  dear  son,  to  offer  on 
that  subject,  except  to  say,  that  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  have 
any  portion  of  my  little  property  invested  in  stock,  the  avails 
of  which  are  drawn — in  part  at  least— from  the  habitual  viola- 
tion of  the  Lord's  dav,  as  I  believe  most  all  of  the  Canal  Nav- 


370  CHEQUERED    SCENES.  [CH.  36.  5. 

igation  stock  is.  It  was  on  account  of  a  serious  scruple  of  this 
kind,  that  I  refrained  from  investing  anything  in  the  Delaware 
and  Raritan  Canal  stock.  That  company  habitually  violates 
the  Sabbath.  I  sold  my  stock  in  the  Erie  Canal  of  New  York 
for  the  same  reason. 

*  Tell  your  uncle,  therefore,  that  I  commit  the  whole  matter 
to  his  wisdom,  with  the  single  restriction  above  mentioned.  I 
am  no  judge  of  what  is  best ;  and  I  am  perfectly  aware,  that 
even  he  can  only  form  a  conjectural  estimate,  which  may  en- 
tirely fail  of  being  realized.  But  he  is  far  more  likely  to  go 
right  than  I  should  be,  if  I  were  on  the  spot.  I  would  much 
rather  receive  a  small  interest,  than  live  on  the  wages  of  ini- 
quity. ^-  *  I  hope  neither  you  nor  your  uncle  will  be  dis- 
j^osed  to  call  this  superstition,  or  hyper-scrupulosity.' 

Again  he  wrote  to  the  same  on  the  28th, 

*  I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  of  yesterday.  I 
am  amazed  at  my  own  inadvertence  in  regard  to  the  D.D. 
Let  it  by  all  means  be.  The  Rev'd  Charles  Nisbet,  D.D. 
I  thank  you  for  interposing  with  so  much  zeal  in  favor  of  the 
"  Semi-lunar  fardels,"  as  Dr.  Cox  calls  them.' 


CHAPTER    THIRTY-SEVENTH. 

GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS. 
1839. 


1.   DR.  carnahan's  reminiscences. 

^'By  reason  of  strength,"  Dr.  Miller  outlived  four  score 
years ;  and,  as  yet,  though  he  had  reached  the  Scriptural 
goal  of  three  score  and  ten,  he  had  hardly  begun  to  expe- 
rience the  "labor  and  sorrow"  of  whicli  the  Psalmist 
speaks.  For  his  age,  he  was  still  remarkably  healtliful, 
fresh,  vigorous  and  elastic  ;  he  really  enjoyed  living,  and 
•was  not  burdened  by  his  ordinary  toils.  It  may  be  better 
here  to  take  some  general  views  of  his  character  and  life, 
than  to  postpone  them  until  the  record  of  his  decline  and 
departure  shall  have  been  made  up.  With  greater  interest, 
perhaps,  as  yet  living  and  laboring,  he  will  now  be  re- 
garded. ,     . 

After  his  death,  the  venerable  Dr.  Carnahan,  an  inti- 
mate associate  for  twenty-seven  years,  furnished  reminis- 
cences for  the  brief  memoir  found  in  Dr.  Sprague's  An- 
nals.^ From  the  same  pen,  the  following  contril)ution,  to 
this  work,  was  afterwards  requested  and  obtained.  I.  pon 
comparison,  it  will  be  found  to  have  been  substantially 
copied  from  the  other,  but  with  frequent  minor  variations. 

'For  half  a  centurv,  Dr.  Miller  occupied  a  prominent  and 
distinguished  place  in* the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  L nited 
States  of  America;  so  that  his  l)i()grai)hy,  m  his  piihlic  rela- 
tions, would  be  the  history  of  that  Church  ibr  tiity  years.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  ample  materials  which  the  long  and 
useful  life  of  this  excellent  man  furnish,  will  at  no  distant  pe- 
riod be  collected  and  arranged,  by  a  competent  hand,  lor  the 

1  III.  Vol.;  607-610.  ^^^ 


372  GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  1. 

instruction  and  benefit  of  coming  generations.  My  small 
tribute  to  his  memory  must  be  confined  to  a  few  general  re- 
marks. 

'  Fifty  years  ago,  I  knew  him  from  reputation,  and  from  his 
published  writings,  especially  his  review  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  his  defence  of  the  validity  of  Presbyterial  ordination, 
in  opposition  to  the  exclusive  claims  of  Episcopacy.  Since  that 
time,  the  published  works  of  Dr.  Miller  have  been  numerous 
and  various,  so  that  as  a  writer  on  theological  subjects,  he  is 
better  known,  in  Europe  and  America,  than  any  other  author 
in  our  country  of  the  same  period.  In  every  thing  that  he  has 
written,  there  is  a  clearness  of  thought,  and  a  purity  and  preci- 
sion of  diction,  which  render  his  style  as  fair  a  specimen  of  good 
old  English  as  our  country  affords.  You  will  find  no  labored 
effort  to  involve  in  mist  a  common  thought,  in  orderUo  give  it 
the  air  of  novelty;  so  that  you  have  to  read  the  passage  more 
than  once  to  find  the  meaning.  In  the  writings  of  Dr.  Miller 
every  thing  is  plain,  clear,  transparent:  you  see  at  once,  with- 
out effort,  just  what  is  intended  to  be  conveyed.  If  he  proposed 
no  new  theory  on  the  subject  of  morals  and  religion,  and  main- 
tained old  doctrines  by  no  original  arguments,  he  did  all  that 
can  be  done  at  the  present  day — stated  in  a  perspicuous  man- 
ner the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  and  refuted  prevailing  errors 
with  the  courtesy  of  a  Christian  gentleman.  In  the  latter  re- 
spect, he  is  a  model  for  religious  controversy.  He  never  sub- 
stitutes personal  abuse  of  an  opponent,  for  arguments  in  refuta- 
tion of  his  erroneous  doctrines.  While  he  states  with  fullness, 
and  maintains  by  solid  reasoning,  what  he  believes  to  be  the 
truth,  he  abstains  from  all  attempts  to  render  those  who  hold 
different  opinions  ridiculous  or  odious. 

'  Until  1823,  my  personal  acquaintance  with  this  excellent 
man  was  transient.  From  that  time  until  his  death — a  period 
of  twenty-seven  years — it  was  my  happiness  to  live  in  his  neigh- 
borhood, and  to  have  frequent,  nay,  almost  daily,  intercourse 
with  him;  to  see  him  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  presbjtery,  in  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College,  in  the  social  world,  and  in 
private  interviews;  and  I  must  say,  that  my  respect  and  admi- 
ration for  him,  as  a  man  and  as  a  Christian,  increased  every 
year,  until  he  was  removed  from  this  world. 

'In  the  pulpit  I  have  heard  men  who,  by  the  ardor  of  their 
utterance,  the  boldness  of  their  imagery,  and  the  energy  of  their 
action,  could  rouse  the  attention  and  excite  the  feelings  of  a 
popular  audience  more  deeply  than  Dr.  Miller ;  but  for  solid, 
rich  gospel  truth,  presented  in  a  clear,  regular,  distinct  manner, 
in  chaste  and  appropriate  language,  the  hearer  w^as  seldom  dis- 


1839.]  DR.  carnauan's  reminiscences.  373 

appointed  wlien  he  occupied  the  sacred  desk.  If  the  gospel  tlienie 
which  lie  presented  did  not  elevate  to  the  highest  heavens,  it 
never  suffered  to  grovel  on  the  earth.  8olid,  rich,  profitable 
instruction  might  always  be  expected  from  Dr.  ^Miller's  preach- 
ing. He  loved  to  preach,  not  for  the  sake  of  human  applause; 
for  he  continued  to  stand  in  the  pulpit,  once  at  least  on  the 
Sabbath,  long  after  he  had  reached  the  zenith  of  his  fame. 
When  his  services  were  not  required  in  the  Seminary,  or  Col- 
lege, or  Princeton  church,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  Viding  to 
some  neighboring  congregation,  and  volunteering  his  services; 
which  were  always  acceptable  to  the  pastor  and  to  the  j>eople. 
In  leading  the  devotions  of  the  large  assembly,  or  of  the  so- 
cial meeting,  Dr.  Miller  was  peculiarly  happy.  In  his  addresses 
to  a  throne  of  grace  there  was  a  reverential  simplicity  in  his 
manner  and  language,  and  an  appropriateness  in  the  t()j)ic.s  of 
adoration,  thanksgiving  and  intercession,  which  led  all  present 
to  lift  up  their  hearts  in  emotions  corresponding  with  the  words 
of  the  speaker.  There  was  no  repetition  in  his  prayers,  yet, 
from  the  fullness  of  his  heart,  he  sometimes  violated  the  rule 
which  he  prescribed  to  his  pupils  on  this  subject — to  be  brief. 
In  the  pleasure  which  he  took  in  communing  with  his  Father 
in  Heaven,  he  sometimes  forgot  the  infirmities  of  others.  At 
whatever  time  or  place  he  was  called  on  to  lead  in  prayer,  he 
was  readv  to  engage  in  it  in  a  solemn  and  devout  manner. 
From  social  and  cheerful  conversation,  in  which  he  greatly  de- 
lighted and  frequently  participated,  the  transition  was  easy 
and  natural  to  acts  of  devotion  ;  because  he  seldom,  if  ever,  in- 
dulged in  such  levity  as  was  inconsistent  with  a  devout  spirit. 
The  whole  demeanor  of  Dr.  Miller,  in  public  and  in  ])rivate,  in 
the  pulpit  and  in  the  family  circle,  showed  that  he  acted  ha- 
bitually under  a  feeling  of  the  divine  preserice.  And,  hence, 
without  apparent  inconsistency,  he  could  turn  from  common 
and  secular  affairs  to  direct  acts  of  worship.  This  habitually 
devotional  spirit  was  far  from  being  connected  with  gloom  ami 
melancholy.  He  was  a  most  cheerful  and  pleasant  companion, 
abounding  in  rich  and  appropriate  anecdote,  yet  without  de- 
scending to  any  thing  unbecoming  a  Christian  and  minister  of 
the  gospel. 

*  For  several  years,  the  professors  of  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  the  officers  of  the  College,  were  in  the  habit  of  meet- 
ing'at  each  other's  houses,  once  in  two  weeks,  for  the  purpose 
of  spending  the  evening  in  easy  and  familiar  conversation,  on 
subjects  chiefly  connected  with  the  intercuts  of  Kduration  an«l 
Religion.  Dr.  Miller  took  a  deep  interest  in  these  meetings, 
and  contributed  greatly  to  making  them  profitab'e  and  plea- 


374  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CIL  37.  1. 

sant,  not  only  by  drawing  largely  upon  his  own  rich  stores  of 
anecdote  and  remark,  but  also  by  eliciting  from  others  whatever 
each  one  might  know  on  the  subject  under  consideration.  I 
remember  with  what  skill  he  would  touch  the  key  note,  which 
would  open  the  lips  of  his  distinguished  and  venerable  colleague, 
[Dr.  Alexander],  or  of  the  gifted  and  lamented  Professor  Dod  ; 
not  forgetting  those  whose  conversational  j^owers  were  of  an  in- 
ferior order. 

*The  natural  temperament  of  Dr.  Miller  was  social;  he  de- 
lighted to  receive  and  impart  instruction  by  oral  communica- 
tion ;  yet  it  is  remarkable,  that  his  fondness  for  society,  and 
the  solicitude  of  those  who  knew  him  to  enjoy  his  company  did 
not  draw  him  away  from  his  studies.  Human  nature  is  prone 
to  fall  into  extremes :  the  pleasant  companion  neglects  his 
books  :  the  scholar  becomes  a  recluse :  Dr.  Miller  united  these 
tw^o  characters,  not  usually  compatible.  Whoever  has  read,  or 
even  looked  at  the  volumes,  and  essays,  and  sermons  w^hich  he 
published,  must  be  convinced  that  he  was  a  laborious  and  suc- 
cessful student.  And,  w^hen  we  take  into  view  his  preparation 
for  the  weekly  services  of  the  pulpit,  and  for  the  daily  instruc- 
tion of  his  class  in  the  lecture-room,  we  are  surprised  that  any 
man  could  perform  so  much  intellectual  labor ;  especially  when 
we  remember,  that  Dr.  Miller  did  not  enter  upon  the  perform- 
ance of  any  public  duty  without  accurate  and  full  preparation. 
The  secret  and  magical  power  which  enabled  him  to  do  so 
much,  and  to  do  it  so  w^ell,  was  that  he  was  a  man  of  system — 
of  order.  He  had  a  time  for  every  duty — a,  time  to  be  in  his 
study,  and  a  time  to  take  relaxation ;  a  time  for  sleep  and  a 
time  for  his  meals.  With  him  the  time  allotted  to  one  duty 
was  not  encroached  on  by  another.  In  his  study,  he  did  not 
lounge  and  permit  his  thoughts  to  wander  from  the  subject 
before  him.  For  the  purpose  of  preserving  his  health,  and 
perhaps  as  an  excitement  to  mental  exertion,  he  always  wrote 
standing  at  a  high  desk.  In  early  life,  and  indeed  to  life's 
close,  he  had  a  tendency  to  pulmonary  disease.  To  counteract 
this  tendency,  he  was  "temperate  in  all  things."  In  eating, 
and  drinking, and  sleeping,,  and  in  whatever  else  over-indulgence 
tended  to  debilitate  the  body  and  enfeeble  the  mind,  he  pre- 
scribed to  himself  limits.  Before  he  came  to  Princeton,  and 
for  some  time  after,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  a  single  glass 
of  wine  at  dinner,  believing  it  assisted  digestion  and  promoted 
his  health.  At  that  period  of  life,  when  many  think  artificial 
stimulants  are  necessary  to  sustain  declining  nature,  he  denied 
himself  his  former  moderate  indulgence,  and  abstained  entirely 
from  the  use  of  all  kinds  of  intoxicating  drinks.     He  often  re- 


1839.]  DR.  carnaiian's  reminiscences.  375 

marked,  that  lie  had  experienced  no  kind  of  injury  in  a]>petite 
or  health  from  the  change.  He  practised  total  abstinence,  not 
because  he  thought  the  moderate  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  in  all 
cases  criminal ;  but  because  an  opposite  example  might  be  injur- 
ious to  others.  In  this  respect,  he  was  governed  by  the  same  })rin- 
ciple  which  led  the  Apostle  to  say,  "If  meat  make  my  brother 
to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth,  lest  I 
make  my  brother  to  offend." 

*  Believing  that  daily  exercise  in  the  open  air  was  necessary 
for  his  health,  he  permitted  no  weather  or  engagement  to  pre- 
vent his  walking  or  riding  out  at  least  once  in  twenty-four 
hours.  I  have  seen  him  in  the  most  inclement  weather,  in  sum- 
mer and  winter,  wending  his  way  to  the  post-office,  or  to  make 
a  necessary  call.  While  he  carefully  avoided  a  current  of  air 
coming  upon  him  from  a  door  or  window,  he  dreaded  neither 
cold  nor  heat,  snow  nor  rain,  with  the  air  freely  circulating  on 
all  sides. 

' In  his  personal  habits  and  dress  he  was  neat  and  tasteful, 
without  anything  foppish,  or  calculated  to  excite  attention.  He 
abstained  from  the  use  of  tobacco  in  all  its  forms,  and  always 
spoke  of  it  as  a  filthy  habit,  injurious  to  health,  and  tending  to 
create  an  appetite  for  intoxicating  drinks.  In  his  manner  he 
was  polished  and  graceful,  attentive  to  those  customs  and  forms 
which  render  social  intercourse  agreeable.  He  was  himself  a 
good  example  of  the  clerical  manners  which  he  has  recom- 
mended in  a  work  published  on  that  subject.  AVe  must  beware 
of  confounding  his  habit  in  this  respect  with  that  empty,  un- 
meaning, and  studied  form  of  w^ords  and  actions,  intended  to 
conceal  indifference,  or,  it  may  be,  real  enmity  and  contempt. 
The  politeness  of  Dr.  Miller  arose  from  two  sources.  First,  it 
was  his  lot,  in  early  life,  to  associate  with  persons  of  polished 
and  agreeable  mannei-s,  and  he  retained  to  the  end  the  habits 
formed  in  his  early  days.  But  still  more  did  the  deference  and 
respect  which  he  showed  to  others,  arise  from  the  kind  feelings 
of  the  heart.  His  words  and  external  actions  were  the  true 
and  unstudied  expressions  of  that  good  will  and  kindness  which 
he  truly  felt,  and  was  ready  to  manifest  whenever  occasion  of- 
fered. The  writer  had  mimy  oi)portunities  of  witnessing  the 
readiness  of  Dr.  Miller  to  forego  his  own  ease  and  convenience 
to  accommodate  others.  Some  distinguished  men,  whose  gene- 
ral aim  is  to  perform  the  duties  of  their  station  witli  fidelity, 
are  wanting  in  that  courtesy  which  renders  social  life  agreeable. 
Absorbed,  perhaps,  in  important  studies,  or  having  some  weighty 
eno-agement  in  view,  they  become  impatient  and  repulsive,  it 
interrupted  and  called  on  to  assist  others  who  need  their  aid. 


376  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CII.   37.  1. 

It  was  not  so  with  Dr.  Miller.  I  have  known  him,  again  and 
again,  with  manifest  inc'onvenience  to  himself,  to  give  his  assist- 
ance to  accommodate  others;  and  he  did  so  with  a  readiness 
and  cheerfulness  which  rendered  the  kindness  doubly  valuable. 

'  In  the  management  of  his  secular  and  domestic  concerns, 
Dr.  Miller  was  a  model  worthy  of  imitation.  Economy  in  all 
his  personal  and  family  expenses  was  conspicuous,  and  he  per- 
mitted no  debt,  great  or  small,  to  remain  unsatisfied  a  week,  or, 
if  he  could  help  it,  a  day.  His  private  means,  independent  of 
his  salary  as  a  professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  were 
probably  equal  to  the  frugal  expenses  of  his  family.  Yet  he 
did  not  permit  his  property  to  accumulate.  He  acted  on  the 
principle  which  he  frequently  inculcated — that  a  large  inherit- 
ance w^as  generally  a  curse  to  children.  It  is  impossible  to 
estimate  how  much  this  good  man  every  year  distributed  to 
charitable  purposes,  because  he  made  no  display  of  his  charities 
by  giving  to  j^articular  objects  large  sums  worthy  of  being 
published  as  examples  of  munificence.  But  it  could  not  be 
concealed  that  he  refused  his  aid  to  no  cause  worthy  of  private 
or  public  support.  With  him,  when  asked  to  give  to  a  good 
object,  it  was  a  common  saying,  that  he  loved  to  have  a  nail  in 
every  building  intended  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  benefit 
of  man.  To  supply  the  temporal  and  spiritual  wants  of  the 
destitute  seemed  to  afibrd  him  real  pleasure.  What  he  gave  to 
the  poor;  what  to  promote  education;  what  to  build  school- 
houses  and  churches ;  what  to  publish  Bibles,  and  tracts,  and 
other  good  books ;  what  to  support  missions,  domestic  and  foreign, 
cannot  be  known  until  the  books  are  opened  on  the  final  day. 
His  freedom  from  the  love  of  money,  and  his  liberal  spirit  were 
seen  in  his  proposing  to  resign,  or  to  relinquish  his  full  salary, 
when  unable  to  j^erform  all  the  duties  of  his  professorship;  and, 
when  these  propositions  were  declined  by  the  Directors  and 
Trustees,  who  thought  it  would  be  illiberal  and  unjust  to  accede 
to  them,  in  his  drawing  his  full  salary,  but  contributing  largely 
therefrom  to  the  support  of  the  institution,  without  consulting 
the  Directors  or  Trustees. 

'At  the  time  of  his  decease,  Dr.  Miller  had  been  forty-three 
years  a  trustee  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey;  and  he  took  a 
deep  interest  in  its  concerns,  was  rarely  if  ever  absent  from  the 
meetings  of  the  Board,  and  was  always  an  active  and  influen- 
tial member.  A  short  time  prior  to  his  decease,  he  attended  a 
meeting,  and  before  the  business  was  finished,  he  rose  and  asked 
leave  of  absence  the  remainder  of  the  sessions,  on  account  of 
the  feeble  state  of  his  health,  remarking  that  his  work  was 
done,  that  he  did  not  expect  to  meet  again  with  the  Board. 


1839.]  DR.  cox's    REMINISCENCES.  377 

Then,  lifting  his  feeble  hands,  he  said,  "May  the  blessing  of 
God  rest  on  this  beloved  college,  on  tliis  board,  on  the  faculty 
and  students,  and  on  all  connected  with  the  institution!"  These 
Avere  the  last  words  and  final  benediction  of  one  who  had  been 
for  many  years  the  senior  trustee. 

'But  the  chief  characteristic  and  crowning  excellence  of  Dr. 
Miller  were  his  devoted  piety,  his  attachment  to  the  pure  and 
simple  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  his  earnest  desire  to  honour  his 
Lord  and  Saviour,  and  to  extend  to  his  fellow-sinners  that  pre- 
cious, saving  truth,  by  which  he  was  himself  so  wonderfully 
sustained  and  comforted  in  the  evening  of  his  days.' 

2.  Dr.  Cox's  Reminiscences. 

The  following  hearty,  idiocratic,  and  subjectively  fresh 
retrospections  would,  by  many  readers,  be  instantly  im- 
puted to  their  reverend  and  genial  author,  even  if  the  name 
of  Dr.   Samuel  Hanson  Cox  were  not  mentioned. 

New  York,  December  27, 18(35. 

'  Keverend  and  dear  Brother, 

'  Your  filial  piety  and  purpose,  in  preparing  "  The  Life"  of 
your  excellent  sire,  for  contemporaries  and  posterity,  especially 
those  of  the  christian  ministry,  to  ponder,  and  use,  and  im- 
prove to  their  own  benefit,  will  be  commended,  I  believe,  by  all 
competent  judges.  The  quality  of  filial  piety  is,  as  some 
think,  in  our  own  times,  if  not  peculiarly  in  our  own  beloved, 
yet  guilty  country,  growing  deplorably  scarce  ;  though,  in  rel- 
erence  to  the  second  table  of  the  law  of  God,  as  says  our 
great  apostle,  it  never  loses  its  value  in  the  estimation  of  the 
law-giver:  Honor  thy  father  and  mother ;  whichis  the  first  com- 
maiidment  with  promise  ;  that  it  may  he  well  with  thee,  and  that 
thou  mayest  live  long  on  the  earth.  Eph.  6:2.  3.  May  this  bless- 
ing rest,  in  all  its  temporal  and  celestial  opulence,  on  your  per- 
son and  your  house ! 

'"The  Life"  of  the  late  Reverend  Samuel  Miller,  D.D., 
ought  to  be  furnished  to  the  public;  and  if,  in  any  proper  way, 
I  can  at  all  contribute  to  it,  it  will  be  a  pleasant,  wholly  an 
ungrudged  performance — in  answer  to  your  written  request.  You 
say,  "  Any  thing  you  can  tell  me  about  ray  fiither,  or  his  fam- 
ily, in  Delaware,  would  be  particularly  interesting."  This  I 
will  recollect. 

'When,  as  a  student  of  the  law,  in  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
hearing  such  venerable  men  as  the  Reverend  James  Richards, 
D.D.,  Dr.  John  McDowell,  of  Elizabeth,  Dr.  Barnabas  King 
Vou  II.— 30 


378  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  2. 

of  Rockaway,  Dr.  E.  D.  Griffin  and  others,  the  word  was 
blessed,  as  I  humbly  trust,  to  my  soul's  benefit ;  (1811-12  ;) 
there  was  something  in  the  fact  extraordinary  ;  exciting  obser- 
vation and  remark.  Educated  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia, 
born  and  nurtured  among  "Friends,  called  Quakers,"  the 
change  in  myself,  as  in  all  my  social  relations,  was  emphatic- 
ally great ;  so  to  my  own  gratitude  and  praise  to  its  Eternal 
Author,  not  ceasing  to  seem  wonderful.  A  message,  I  think, 
from  your  father,  that  I  should  visit  him,  then  in  this  city. 
Pastor  of  the  Wall  street  Presbyterian  Church,  commanded 
my  obedience  ;  resulting  in  my  first  introduction  to  Dr.  Miller. 
It  was  'very  grateful,  I  may  say,  edifying,  and  singularly  appre- 
ciated, as  well  as  memorable  on  several  accounts. 

'  I  then  and  afterwards  learned  from  himself,  several  items 
that  affected  my  own  filial  thoughts  and  sensations,  with  some- 
thing like  permanent  delight.  My  father  and  he  were  natives 
of  the  same  State ; — in  Dover,  Kent  county,  Delaware,  as  I 
think ; — acquainted,  and  even  intimate,  in  boyhood  and  youth  ; 
nearly  of  the  same  age ;  and  often  agreeably  associated  in  the 
vicinal  relations  of  life.  From  seven  and  a  third  years,  I  had 
been  fatherless ;  yet  my  recollections  of  my  honored  and  be- 
loved father  were  vivid,  definite,  delightful ;  such  mainly  they 
ever  endure.  Hence  the  response  of  special  gratitude  to  my 
father's  friend — a  feeling  I  yet  cherish  and  enjoy. 

*  In  that  interview,  he  related  many  things  of  pleasant  mem- 
ory, though  less  adapted  to  public  rehearsal,  especially  in  this 
paper.  One  anecdote,  I  will  mention.  Before  our  present 
substitute  was  known,  for  inoculation,  in  reference  to  the  dire 
disease  to  which  all  men  seemed  exposed,  and  so  many,  espe- 
cially in  youth,  were  victimized,  it  was  the  system  everywhere 
to  take  preventive  measures,  often  costly  and  severe,  yet  in- 
dispensable, where  they  could  be  commanded,  against  the  for- 
midable scourge.  My  own  memories  here  are  quite  experimen- 
tal and  very  impressive.  In  many  places,  at  the  South  espe- 
cially, the  different  neighborhoods  made  common  interest  of  the 
matter ;  establishing,  with  the  best  nursing  and  medical  care, 
what  were  called  "  Pest  Houses,"  where  patients,  and  especially 
children,  were  received,  inoculated  with  the  virus;  and  after 
six  or  more  weeks  they  were  returned  to  their  homes,  ordinar- 
ily invulnerable,  for  the  future,  to  its  attack  and  its  ravage  ; 
from  all  which,  laus  Deo  !  our  better  antidote,  in  these  days,  is 
— vaccination. 

*  Now  it  so  happened  that  our  two  fathers,  then  little  other 
than  lads — scarce  in  their  teens,  met  in  one  of  these  establish- 
ments, and   were  proximate   fellow-sufferers,  eventually   with 


1839.]  DR.  cox's    REMINISCENCES.  379 

complete  success.  Here  they  became  acquainted,  and  even  in- 
timate. Here  was  begun  much  of  that  quad  instinct  of 
special  kindness,  for  which  I  yet,  as  instinctively,  love  Dr.  Mil- 
ler. But  for  this,  he  probably  had  known  or  shown  compara- 
tively little  interest  in  me.  So  wonderfully  concatenated  are 
events,  small  and  great,  trivial  and  momentous,  in  the  arl)itra- 
tions  of  eternal  providence!  Whoso  is  wise,  and  will  ouskkve 
these  things,  even  they  shall  understand  the  lovincj-kind- 
NESS  OF  JEHOVAH.  Ps.  107:  43.  What  hast  thou  that  thou 
didst  not  receive  f     1  Cor.  5 :  7. 

*In  our  subsequent  intercourse,  he  often  would  advert  to  it, 
and  never  with  other  than  realized  delight,  to  myself  at  least. 
The  last  message  received  from  him,  a  short  time  previous  to  his 
decease,  was  oral,  and  of  the  same  familiar  and  agreeable  sort : 
"Tell  my  friend  and  brother,  Dr.  Cox,  that  Dr.  Miller  sends 
his  love  and  kindest  salutations  to  him.  Tell  him,  I  loved  his 
father  ;  hence  I  have  and  claim  a  hereditary  right  to  love  him 
also."  This  was  characteristic  ;  I  may  say,  patriarchal  even ; 
and  if  on  no  nobler  ground,  as  sinners  love  those  that  love 
them,  how  could  I  other  than  feel  and  reciprocate  such  a  mis- 
sive of  love:  familiar,  benign,  well-bred,  christian?  It  was  like 
him.  It  was  nature,  as  well  as  grace  ;  so  working ;  incidental 
and  grateful  and  beautiful,  as  well  as  fraternal ;  must  I  write 
it? — quite  too  rare  or  equivocal,  in  its  fruits,  as  identical,  gen- 
uine, recognized,  in  our  days  ! 

*Iu  the  higher  relations  of  his  character,  little  research  is 
requisite  to  supply  materials  for  my  pen — though  I  have  al- 
ready told  you  why  I  cannot,  at  present,  command  his  valued 
letters  to  me;  all  packed,  and  stored,  and  inaccessible,  with 
many  other  papers  and  books,  for  which  my  library,  or  its 
owner,  has  to  suffer!     Really  I  much  regret  it ! 

'In  my  first  interview,  I  have  purposely  reserved  it  here  to 
say,  he  impressed  me  deeply  and  well,  especially  on  one  topic — 
that  of  my  then  recent  spiritual  change.  He  interrogated  me, 
as  to  my  views,  feelings,  knowledge  of  the  truth;  especially  as 
to  my  faith  in  the  blessed  Redeemer  of  sinners;  my  ho|>e  in 
him;  my  manner  and  purpose  of  life;  ami  motives  in  seeking 
the  Christian  Ministry.  In  all  these,  the  impression  left  on  my 
own  mind  was  only  that  of  gratitude  and  approval.  So  in  ail 
our  subsequent  interviews — but  I  desire  not  improperly  to  en- 
large on  personalities  and  particularities  of  any  sort. 

*He  seemed  to  think,  as  often  the  impression  has  been  ob- 
truded on  others  and  myself,  that  the  motive  of  too  many  can- 
didates, among  us  as  well  as  others,  was — to  speak  guardedly 
— faulty   and    incomplete — as   earthly   more   than   heavenly; 


380  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  2. 

seeking  a  place  of  ease,  honor,  emolument;  with  very  little  con- 
viction, the  result  of  thorough  investigation,  scriptural  research, 
prayer,  and  the  genuine  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  God 
had  called  him — respecting  each  instance  of  a  professed  call, 
to  preach  the  Gospel ;  in  the  way  of  genuine  piety,  view  of 
duty  paramount,  love  of  the  Saviour  and  the  souls  He  died  to 
save!  Hence,  to  say  the  least,  we  have  so  many  soft  and  su- 
perficial Presbyterians;  oscillating  from  one  denomination  to 
another — instead  of  studying  our  Book,  its  system  of  doctrine, 
credenda,  agenda,  Government,  Discipline,  History,  Admini- 
stration, and  relations.  The  Bible  is  the  religion,  objective  and 
normal,  of  Presbyterians.  If  a  candidate  cares  little  or  no- 
thing for  the  difference  between  us,  and  my  Lord  in  lawn  of 
Episcopacy,  or  the  democracy  in  a  kingdom  of  Independency, 
or  other  deviations  towards  Rome — if  not  to  the  tumultuations 
of  the  populace,  let  him  honor  the  royal  counsel ;  tarry  at  Je- 
richo until  his  beard  be  grown,  (2  Sam.  10:  5,)  or — at  all  events, 
let  us  be  in  no  hurry  to  commit  office,  and  place,  and  power, 
and  influence,  for  evil,  to  men  plainly  immature ;  dubitable  as 
well  as  dubitant ;  and  as  such  plainly  incompetent.  I  am  con- 
strained here  to  record  the  conviction,  not  the  mere  opinion, 
of  an  old  co-presbyter,  against  all  such  methods  and  measures 
of  im-" policy";  as  all  wrong;  and  sure  to  entail  no  good,  to 
say  the  least,  on  all  parties  concerned  in  them.  We  want 
learned,  decided,  principled  men  in  the  ministry;  as  well  as 
devout,  holy,  active,  beneficent,  exemplars  of  Christianity; 
these,  or  such  as  these,  alone.  So,  I  am  sure,  he  thought. 
Numbers  may  be  weakness,  instead  of  strength :  the  same  com- 
mit  THOU    to    FAITHFUL    MEN,  who    shall    be    ABLE   TO   TEACH 

others  also.  2  Tim.  2 :  2. 

'When  I  was  first  in  the  pastorate,  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  including  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick, 
comprehended,  of  course,  all  Princeton;  the  Patriarchs  there, 
the  Rev.  Drs.  Ashbel  Green,  Miller,  Alexander,  and  others — 
now,  we  trust,  waiting  for  us  in  the  world  of  the  new  creation! 
Our  synodical  meetings,  only  annual,  were  ever  highly  valued 
reunions ;  and  your  dear  father,  my  dear  Sir,  was  always  thrice 
welcome,  in  his  presence  and  his  influence.  Many  recollections 
in  detail  are  more  interesting  to  myself,  probably,  than  proper 
to  be  recited  here.  Your  father,  as  a  man  of  manners  and  sym- 
metry, as  a  devout  and  consistent  Presbyterian,  as  a  scholar 
well  read  in  all  lore  professional,  as  a  safe  and  ready  counsellor, 
as  an  example,  as  a  friend,  as  a  devout  brother  in  the  kingdom, 
may  well  engage  your  love,  and  duty,  and  service  to  his  memory 
— as  also  mine! 


1839.]  JUDGE  field's  reminiscences.  381 

*ButIpau33.  XJs9  this,  if  it  suit  your  plan  and  purpose. 
Otherwise,  please  return  it.  Claiming  my  own  "iieroditary 
right",  I  salute  you  in  fraternal  love.  The  LORD  JESUS 
CHRIST  be  with  your  spirit  forever! 

'In  HIM,  your  affectionate  brother  and  friend, 
'Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D., )  Samuel  Hanson  Cox. 

Mount  Holly,  New  Jersey.'  j      ' 

3.   Judge  Field's  Reminiscences. 

The  very  interesting  recollections  which  follow  are  from 
the  pen,  as  it  will  be  perceived,  of  the  Honorable  Richard 
Stockton  Field,  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court 
for  the  District  of  New  Jersey. 

'Princeton,  September  29,  1868. 
'My  dear  Sir, 

'In  a  conversation  I  recently  had  with  you  in  reference  to 
your  Father,  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  you  begged  me 
to  put  in  writing  some  of  my  recollections  of  him.  I  comply 
with  your  request  the  more  willingly,  because  it  affords  me  an 
opportunity  of  testifying  my  great  veneration  and  respect  for 
the  memory  of  one,  whom  living,  I  so  much  loved  and  hon- 
ored. ^ 

'My  earliest  recollection  of  your  Father  goes  back  to  the 
time  when  I  was  a  student  of  Princeton  College.  I  fre(]uently 
heard  him  preach,  and  his  sermons  were  always  impressive  and 
instructive.  Their  style  was  polished  and  graceful,  and  his  aj)- 
pearance,  voice,  and  manner,  added  much  to  their  efieet.  I 
remember  particularly  a  sermon  which  he  preached  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Princeton,  on  the  subject  of  the  "Re- 
surrection of  the  body."^  The  text  was  taken  from  the  l')th 
chapter  of  St.  Paul's  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  the 
discourse  was  a  beautiful  expansion  of  the  thought  contained  in 
the  verses,  beginning  with:  "Rut  some  man  will  say,  how  are 
the  dead  raised  up?  and  with  what  body  do  they  come?  Thou 
fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened,  except  it  die''  I 
have  always  thought  it  the  best  discourse^  upon  the  subject  that 
I  have  ever  heard  or  read.  It  made  such  an  impression  upon 
my  mind,  that  when  I  went  home,  I  attempted  to  write  it  out. 
Such  were  the  lucid  order  and  method  of  his  sermons,  tliat  to 
one  with  a  tolerably  good  memory,  this  was  not  so  ditticult  a 
task.  I  think  I  succeeded  in  reproducing  most  of  the  thoughts, 
and  a  good  deal  of  the  language  of  the  discourse.     It  was  not 

1  See  a  prior  mentiun  of  this  sermon,  probably,  I  Vol.,  pp.  343-4.  II  VoL, 
pp.  33-4. 


382  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  3. 

long  since,  that  in  looking  over  some  of  my  old  papers,  this  one 
met  my  eye;  but  I  cannot  now  lay  my  hands  upon  it.  The  only 
other  distinct  recollection  of  your  Father  at  that  time,  which  I 
now  have,  is  that  of  seeing  him  every  day,  and  at  the  same 
hour,  taking  his  customary  walk  with  his  wife  and  children. 
Such  unvarying  regularity  in  his  daily  exercises,  struck  me,  I 
remember,  very  forcibly.  They  seemed  to  be  measured,  both 
as  to  distance  and  time,  by  the  most  exact  rule. 

'In  1825,  I  left  Princeton,  and  was  absent  for  seven  years, 
and  it  was  not  until  my  return  in  1832,  that  my  acquaintance 
with  your  Father  can  be  said  to  have  really  commenced.  From 
that  period,  until  the  time  of  his  death,  I  was  his  near  neigh- 
bour, and  saw  him  very  frequently.  I  remember  very  well, 
and  I  am  sure  you  have  not  forgotten  the  day,  when  he  called 
upon  me  to  request  that  I  would  conduct  your  legal  studies,  and 
allow  you  to  enter  your  name  as  a  student  in  my  office.  That 
he  should  have  selected  me  to  be  your  legal  preceptor,  I  felt  to 
be  a  very  great  compliment.  I  remember,  too,  the  valuable 
suggestions  he  made,  as  to  the  books  which  you  should  read, 
and  to  the  course  of  study  you  should  pursue,  in  connexion 
with,  and  subsidiary  to  your  legal  training.  He  wanted  you  to 
build  upon  a  broad  foundation,  and  to  combine  liberal  culture 
with  professional  learning.  Had  you  pursued  the  practice  of 
the  law,  I  am  sure  you  would  have  felt  the  great  benefit  of  fol- 
lowing out  the  plan  he  recommended,  and  thus  knowing  some- 
thing outside  of  your  profession. 

'The  impression  which  your  Father  always  made  upon  me 
was,  that  of  being  the  most  perfect  model  of  a  christian  gentle- 
man I  had  ever  met  with.  His  personal  appearance  was  most 
prepossessing.  His  manners  were  in  the  highest  degree  polished, 
not  to  say  courtly,  combining  ease  and  grace  with  much  dignity 
of  deportment.  His  conversational  powers  were  of  the  highest 
order.  He  was  rich  in  anecdote,  and  told  a  story  remarkably 
well.  He  had  a  tenacious  memory — had  read  much — seen  a 
good  deal  of  the  world — and  his  knowledge  was  always  at  com- 
mand and  ready  for  use.  He  was  universally  loved  and  ad- 
mired, and  the  charm  of  every  social  circle  in  which  he  moved. 
He  was  not,  I  suppose,  what  is  usually  called  a  man  of  genius. 
No  one  of  his  faculties  was  developed  at  the  expense  of  the 
others.  His  imagination  was  always  under  the  control  of  his 
judgment.     His  mind  was  complete,  full-orbed,  and  round. 

'  He  was  a  good  citizen,  and  with  great  fidelity  discharged  all 
the  duties  which  that  relation  imposed  upon  him.  He  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  political  events  and  discussions  of  the 
day — was  familiar  with  the  character  of  all  our  distinguished 


1839.]  JUDGE  field's  reminiscences.  383 

public  men — and  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  vote  at 
every  election.  He  was  fond  of  horticultural  j)ursuits— had  a 
taste  for  planting — and  loved  to  talk  of  his  garden,  his  fruits, 
and  his  trees. 

'Although  devoted  to  that  branch  of  the  Church,  of  which 
he  was  so  conspicuous  an  ornament,  and  ever  ready  to  defend  it 
against  all  assailants,  he  was  not  illiberal  towards  other  reli- 
gious denominations.  When  it  was,  for  the  first  time,  pro})Osed 
to  build  an  Episcopal  church  at  Princeton,  instead  of  discour- 
aging, or  throwing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  it,  he  contril)iited 
towards  the  fund  for  its  erection;  and  I  remember  the  great 
gratification,  which  this  act  of  liberality  upon  his  part  gave  to 
those  who  were  engaged  in  the  enterprize. 

'He  was  eminently  a  public-spirited  man.  He  was  always 
ready  to  co-operate  in  every  undertaking,  having  for  its  object 
the  promotion  of  the  good  of  his  fellow-men.  He  was,  during 
his  life,  connected  with  many  literary  and  scientific  associations ; 
and  he  was  always  an  active  working  member.  Before  his 
removal  to  New  Jersey,  he  was  among  the  first  founders  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society.  My  latest  recollections  of  him  are 
in  connection  with  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society.  Some 
months  before  the  formation  of  this  Society,  he  had,  in  a  conver- 
sation with  me,  expressed  his  decided  opinion,  and  his  earnest  de- 
sire, that  something  of  the  kind  should  be  attempted.  The  Society 
was  organized  at  Trenton,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1845.  Your 
Father  was  then  far  advanced  in  age,  being  in  his  76th  year,  and 
yet  he  was  present  at  most  of  its  meetings,  and  took  a  deep  inter- 
est in  all  its  proceedings.  One  of  the  earliest  addresses  before  the 
Society  was  delivered  by  him  at  Princeton,  on  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1845;  an  address,  containing  many  striking  observations, 
and  many  valuable  suggestions  as  to  the  means  by  which  the 
objects  of  the  association  might  be  best  promoted.  Every  one 
who  was  present  upon  that  occasion,  and  heard  the  concluding 
sentence  of  his  address,  must  have  felt,  that  the  venerable 
speaker  had  unconsciously  drawn  a  portrait  of  himself  "One 
of  the  most  honorable  characteristics,"  he  said,  "of  a  genuine 
Patriot,  and  especially  of  a  Christian  Patriot,  is,  that  he  is  a 
working  man — ever  planning  and  laboring  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  "field  of  knowledge,  and  ever  willing  to  exert  himself  and 
make  sacrifices  for  promoting  the  improvement  and  happiness 
of  his  fellow-men." 

'I  have  thus,  in  compliance  with  your  request,  given  you 
some  of  my  recollections  of  your  Father.  1  have  spoken  of 
him,  as  I  presumed  vou  wished  me  to  do,  not  so  much  as  a 
Scholar,  or  a  Writer,  or  a  Preacher,  or  a  Theological  Professor, 


384  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  4. 

— for  in  these  respects,  there  are  others  far  more  competent  to 
do  him  justice, — but  as  a  Man,  a  Citizen,  and  a  Patriot.  And 
I  have  taken  more  pleasure  in  dwelling  upon  these  traits  of  his 
character,  because  it  is  so  rare  to  find  them  combined  with 
those  other  claims  to  distinction  which  he  possessed  in  so  emi- 
nent a  degree. 

'  I  remain,  my  dear  Sir, 

*  Very  truly  yours, 

'R.  S.  Field.' 

4.     MISCELLANEOUS  REMINISCENCES. 

A  collection  of  reminiscences  of  J)r.  Miller,  chiefly  from 
persons  unconnected  with  him  by  family  ties,  will  here  be 
thrown  together.  This  method  of  exhibiting  his  character 
involves,  of  necessity,  some  repetition,  and  forbids  an  ex- 
actly methodical  arrangement.  Perhaps,  however,  the  tes- 
timony of  several  witnesses,  on  the  same  points,  may  serve 
sometimes  to  deepen  the  impression,  without  wearying;  and 
only  the  rather,  it  may  be,  if  that  testimony  is  not  always 
brought  rigorously  under  its  logical  head. 

"  Dr.  Miller's  person,  though  not  above  the  middle  size,  was 
uncommonly  symmetrical  and  dignified.  His  countenance 
spoke  in  no  equivocal  language  of  the  benignity  and  generosity 
of  his  spirit.  His  manners  were  the  simple  reflection  of  the 
fine  qualities  of  his  intellect  and  heart.  He  might  -pass  you  in 
the  street  as  a  stranger,  and  yet  you  could  not  fail  to  recognize 
in  him  the  polished  gentleman.  Perhaps  his  rigid  regard  to  all 
the  forms  of  polite  society,  so  far  as  they  were  justified  to  his 
conscience  and  sense  of  propriety,  gave  to  his  manners  an  air 
of  more  than  common  precision ;  but  there  was  nothing  that 
was  designed  to  inspire  awe,  or  fitted  to  produce  embarrassment. 
Always  self-possessed  and  perfectly  at  ease,  and  on  all  suitable 
occasions  cheerful  and  abounding  with  anecdote,  he  was  wel- 
come to  every  circle ;  while  yet  he  never  forgot,  or  suffered 
others  to  forget,  the  decorum  that  was  due  to  his  character  and 
office.  Persons  of  every  age  and  profession,  the  oldest  and  the 
youngest,  the  most  intelligent  and  the  least  informed,  were  edi- 
fied by  his  wisdom,  entertained  by  his  humour,  and  charmed  by 
his  bland  and  attractive  address."  ^ 

He  was  about  five  feet,  eight  or  nine  inches,  in  stature, 
and  of  a  becoming  fullness  of  flesh.  He  had  a  fair,  fresh 
complexion,  and  a  good,  lively  color.     He  was  unusually 

^  Dr.  Sprague's  Discourse  Commemorative,  12,  13. 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    REMINISCENCES.  385 

erect,  continuing  so  almost  to  the  last ;  and,  bv  frequent 
admonitions  to  his  children  on  the  subject,  proved  that  this 
was  the  result  of  persistent  self-training,  and  that  he  consi- 
dered it  very  important  to  the  health,  as  well  as  to  the  ap- 
pearance. Before  the  decay  of  extreme  age,  he  was  freely 
active,  though  rather  measured  in  his  movements,  avoidino- 
hurry  as  opposed  to  grace  and  dignity.  He  sometimes 
spoke  of  himself  as  having,  in  his  earlier  days,  seriously 
impaired  his  health,  and,  for  a  number  of  years,  suffered 
greatly,  by  confinement  to  sedentary  labor,  and  by  want  of 
exercise ;  and  he  was  very  earnest  in  counselling'  his  sons 
and  others,  not  to  make  the  same  mistake ;  whicli  he  attri- 
buted, in  his  own  case,  to  nenjlectinf^  good  advice,  driven  him, 
probably,  by  his  brother  Edward. 

'  His  health  had  been  seriously  threatened  early  in  life,  and 
care  and  caution  had  become  habitual  to  him.  He  may  have 
gone  to  an  excess  in  his  forethoughts  and  preventives  against 
exposure,  his  unfailing  anticipations  of  all  possible  contingen- 
cies of  weather,  and  his  sensitiveness  to  draughts,  and  damp- 
ness, and  changes  of  temperature.  His  long  life,  however,  and 
even  health,  showed  the  value  of  his  prudence.  He  was  syste- 
matically abstemious  in  eating  and  drinking,  and  seemed  never 
to  be  overcome  by  tempting  viands,  against  his  habit  or  resolu- 
tion. On  certain  days  of  each  week,  he  "starved,"  as  he  called 
it ;  the  meaning  of  the  term,  practically,  being  that  on  these 
days  he  reduced  his  food  in  character  and  amount,  as  he  said, 
"to  give  nature  a  holiday."  Many  disapprove  of  such  experi- 
ments, but  he  always  thought  that  he  was  benefited  by  this 
course.' 

He  was  not  easily  flurried,  or  thrown  off  his  centre.  He 
seemed  to  have  trained  himself  to  readiness  for  sudden 
emerorencies,  and  seldom  revealed  much  embarrassment. 
AVhen  a  couple  once  stood  up  unexpectedly  before  him  to 
be  married,  he  proceeded  with  the  ceremony  as  promptly 
and  coolly,  as  if  quite  prepared  for  it.  If  the  Seminary 
students,  to  give  a  novel  expression  of  respect  for  their  ])ro- 
fessor,  rose  in  a  body  at  his  entrance,  he  bowed  his  acknow- 
ledo-ments,  as  though  it  were  an  accustomed  courtesy.  A 
determination  not  to  be  hasty  in  taking  offence,  not  to  re- 
sent slights  or  insults,  had  helped  to  confirm  a  habit  of  self- 
restraint  and  deliberation,  which  influenced  all  his  social 
intercourse,  and  his  whole  public  life. 


386  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  4. 

*  His  system  and  exactness  were  remarkable.  He  was  punc- 
tual to  a  minute,  in  doors  and  out,  and  was  most  emphatic  in 
his  inculcations  on  that  subject,  as  well  on  the  ground  of  ad- 
vantage to  those  who  regarded  the  appointed  time  sacredly,  as 
with  reference  to  the  rights  of  others.  I  remember  his  almost 
instantaneous  appearance  at  prayers  and  meals,  when  the  bell 
was  heard, — his  exact  closing  of  the  house  at  a  stated  hour  at 
night, — and  his  annoyance  if  the  absence  of  any  one  interfered 
with  this  custom.  His  personal  habits  fell  into  undeviating 
routine — so  his  use  of  cold  water  ablution,  his  attention  to  the 
temperature  of  his  study,  his  caution  against  cold  and  rain. 
He  kept,  for  years,  a  record  of  the  state  of  the  thermometer  at 
a  certain  hour,  to  which  he  constantly  referred  with  pleasure  to 
compare  the  seasons.' 

Dr.  Miller  was  indeed  methodical  and  exact,  but  occasional- 
ly bonus  dormitat  Homerus.  The  following  entry  is  extracted, 
omitting  names  and  dates,  from  his  Record  of  Marriages. 

^July  Qth,  18 — .     I  married  a  black  man  and  woman,  who 

lived  at  a  place  called ■ ■,  eight  or  ten  miles  from  this 

place,  and  usually  attended  Dr. 's  church.     Forgot  to 

ask  their  names.     Both  young  and  very  black.' 

'  His  industry  was  unremitted.  He  seemed  hardly  to  lose  a 
moment.  Laying  down  his  pen,  to  obey  his  rule  of  punctuality, 
or  to  take  his  allotted  time  for  exercise,  he  resumed  it  again, 
at  once,  on  his  return.  I  doubt  whether  many  lives  could  show 
fewer  moments  wasted.' 

Throughout  his  professional  life,  Dr.  Miller  acted  upon 
the  advice  which  he  often  gave  to  the  students  in  the  semi- 
nary, and  to  his  younger  brethren  in  the  ministry — to  have, 
as  he  expressed  it,  something  always  lying  on  the  anvil — 
some  definite,  pre-arranged  work  for  every  leisure  moment. 
He  even  recommended,  after  some  old  divine,  but  of  course 
in  a  qualified  sense,  having  constantly  a  great  many  irons 
in  the  fire — 'shovel,  tongs,  poker  and  all.'  It  was  in  no 
small  degree  due  to  his  own  careful  husbanding  of  moments, 
that  he  was  enabled  to  accomplish  so  much,  especially  in 
the  way  of  authorship.  It  should,  however,  be  remembered, 
that  it  is  not  every  stray  minute  which  can  be  profitably 
applied  to  every  species  of  intellectual  labor.  Brief  inter- 
vals may  serve  well  for  many  sorts  of  work,  but  not  for 
earnest,  connected  thought,  nor  for  that  glowing  activity  of 
brain,  which  produces  the  most  brilliant,  and  often  the  most 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    REMINISCENCES.  387 

solid  results.  These  require  some  leiifrth  of  time  for  work- 
ing up  to  the  point  of  most  eftective  effort. 

Dr.  Miller  not  unfrequently  repeated  some  quaint  old 
divine's  remark,  that  "sin,  debt  and  dirt"  were  the  three 
things  to  be  chiefly  avoided ;  and  in  regard  to  the  payment 
of  his  debts,  he  was  nervouslj'  prompt  and  punctilious. 

While  economical  as  to  everything  involving  mere  show, 
or  parade,  he  was  unboundedly  liberal,  according  to  his 
means,  wherever  family  comfort  or  profit,  the  improvement 
of  his  children,  or  the  claims  of  benevolence,  public  or 
private,  were  concerned. 

'He  was  a  man  of  great  delicacy  of  honour  in  every  sphere. 
I  never  knew  one  who  had  fewer  littlenesses  of  character.  He 
was  incapable  of  doing  or  thinking  any  thing  low  or  mean.  In 
his  pecuniary  relations,  he  was  prompt  and  generous,  never 
making  points  about  trifles,  or  taking  pride  in  having  the  better 
of  a  bargain.  He  had  no  anxiety  to  be  rich,  nor  any  alarm 
or  weak  regret  about  his  few  pecuniary  dangers  or  osses.  He 
had  no  itching  for  speculations,  or  financial  advelnturcs,  but 
w^as  content  to  invest  the  little  that  he  had  to  lay  up,  from  time 
to  time,  in  old-fashioned,  respectable  investments,  which,  having 
made,  he  forgot  in  the  duties  of  his  calling. 

'The  same  high  tone  and  severity  of  principle  prevailed  in 
the  family.  Xo  one  of  his  children  could  ever  accuse  him  of 
detecting  a  fault  by  trap  or  trick,  or  in  any  doubtfu  or  undig- 
nified  manner.  We  had  respect  for  our  ])unishmelnt  when  it 
fell,  however  much  we  might,  while  sufl?ering,  have  feared  it, 
or  complained  of  it,  or  refused  to  see  its  justice. 

'He  was  fond  of  quiet  and  refined  humour.  He  enjoyed  ex- 
ceedingly wit  and  anecdote,  and  relaxed  intercourse  with  genial 
and  amusing  companions.  He  was,  himself,  no  mean  relator  of 
entertaining  stories  and  events.  I  have  seen  more  graceful  and 
pure  hilarity  at  his  table,  when  he  was  entertaining  clergymen 
as  he  often  did,  than  I  ever  remember  to  have  seen  elsewhere. 
Hearty  laughter,  jest  and  repartee  abounded,  but  always  safely 
guarded  from  grossness  and  irreverence. "  No  wine  flowed  ()n 
these  occasions.  I  well  remember  the  often  repeated  suggestion 
to  his  guests  that  while  he  drank  no  wine  himself,  and  had 
scruples  about  having  it  on  the  table,  it  was  on  the  side-board 
for  the  "weaker  brethren." 

'Dr.  Miller  had  a  fund  of  anecdotes  and  amusing  stones, 
which  he  was  very  fond  of  telling.  By  those  who  luard  then;, 
they  were  ofceu  treasured  up  and  repeated  as  "Dr.  .Millers 


388  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  4. 

Stories";  but  unhappily  some,  of  sufficient  point  indeed,  but  of 
questionable  propriety,  and  which  had  never  passed  his  lips, 
were  retailed  with  this  introduction  and  recommendation.  His 
indulgence  in  anecdote-telling  rarely  transgressed  the  bounds 
of  true  dignity  and  taste.' 

He  often  related  an  anecdote  with  great  point  and  energy 
of  expression  and  action.  His  voice  was  one  day  heard  in 
his  study,  the  tones  rising  in  excitement  and  emphasis,  un- 
til they  attracted  the  attention  of  diiferent  members  of  the 
family  throughout  the  house.  At  length  he  was  heard 
fiercely  to  vociferate,  "Keep  your  hands  off  of  me,  Sir! 
Keep  your  hands  off  of  me  !"  With  one  accord,  the  whole 
body  of  listeners,  thoroughly  alarmed,  and  having  called 
Mrs.  Miller  from  her  room  as  they  passed,  flew  to  the  study 
door.  Here  there  was  a  momentary  pause,  while  Mrs. 
Miller  was  put  forward,  to  take  the  responsibility  of  enter- 
ing first.  She  opened  the  door  with  some  hesitation,  as  the 
alarming  sounds  had  died  away ;  but  the  others  all  pressed 
close  after  her,  and  the  whole  excited  company  was  revealed 
to  President  Carnahan  of  the  College,  who,  quietly  seated, 
was  listening  with  great  apparent  delight  to  Dr.  Miller, 
who  was  upon  his  feet,  throwing  all  his  energy  into  some 
amusing  anecdote,  which  he  had  brought  up  for  the  occa- 
sion. Those  who  had  rushed  so  gallantly  to  his  defence, 
fell  back,  at  once,  and  beat  a  retreat,  not  without  consider- 
able momentary  confusion  ;  but  they  recovered  themselves 
enough,  presently,  to  laugh  heartily  over  the  adventure. 

"His  mind  was  distinguished  rather  for  that  admirable  har- 
monious blending  of  all  the  faculties,  which  generally  secures 
the  highest  amount  of  usefulness,  than  for  the  striking  predo- 
minance of  some  one  quality,  which  often  attracts  more  notice 
and  admiration.  You  could  not  say  that  he  was  deficient  in 
any  faculty ;  you  could  not  say  that  he  exceeded  all  others  in 
any;  but  you  could  say  that  he  exceeded  most  others  in  the 
symmetry  and  completeness  of  the  intellectual  man.  His  per- 
ceptions, if  not  remarkably  quick,  were  remarkably  clear;  he 
hated  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  darkness,  and  knew  how  to 
distinguish  between  profound  investigation  and  the  wild  sallies 
of  an  ambitious  and  dreamy  philosophy.  He  had  a  ready  and 
retentive  memory,  in  which  were  carefully  treasured  the  results 
of  his  study  and  observation.  He  had  a  sound,  discriminating 
judgment,  which  never  leaped  in  the  dark,  and  usually  reached 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    REMIXISCENCES.  389 

its  conclusions  by  a  legitimate  process.  If  his  imagination  was 
not  strikingly  prolific,  his  taste  was  uncommonly  exact ;  and 
every  eflbrt  of  the  former  was  subject  to  the  rigid  control  of  the 
latter.  He  possessed  in  a  high  degree  that  admirable  quality, 
— common  sense;  which  is  .so  eminently  a  discerncr  of  times 
and  seasons,  and  which,  even  in  the  absence  of  what  are  usually 
considered  the  higher  intellectual  endowments,  may  be  a  secu- 
rity for  an  honorable  and  useful  life.  He  had  an  unusually 
safe  mind;  a  mind  that  moved  luminously,  ettectively,  yet  cau- 
tiously;— a  mind  that  you  would  trust  amidst  agitatinn;  and  even 
convulsive  scenes,  and  not  be  afraid  to  read  the  report  of  its 
opinions  and  decisions.  I  remember  to  have  heard  that  the  cele- 
brated Dr.  Joseph  Priestley  was  much  struck  with  the  character 
of  his  mind,  while  Dr.  ^Miller  was  yet  a  very  young  man ;  and, 
little  as  he  sympathized  in  his  views  of  Christian  doctrine,  pre- 
dicted that,  if  his  life  were  spared,  he  would  attain  to  great 
eminence  in  his  profession. 

"  But  we  must  view  the  intellectual  in  connection  with  the 
moral,  if  we  would  do  justice  to  the  character  of  his  mind ; 
though  it  may  be  difficult  here  to  draw  the  line  between  what  was 
originally  conferred  by  the  Creator  and  what  was  superinduced 
by  education  or  even  by  grace.  But  I  think  all  who  knew  him 
will  admit  that  he  was  constituted  with  a  large  share  of  bene- 
volent feeling.  It  shone  in  his  countenance ;  it  breathed  from 
his  lips;  it  found  expression  in  his  bland  and  kindly  manner. 
Still  he  had  a  strong  natural  sense  of  right  and  wrong;  and 
when  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  idea  of  evil  doing,  he 
could  sometimes  utter  himself  in  solemn  and  indignant  rebuke. 
Though  he  was  prudent  and  conciliatory  in  his  intercourse  with 
men,  I  never  heard  him  charged,  even  in  a  whisper,  with  any 
unworthy  concealment;  with  aiming  to  reach  his  end  by  a  de- 
signedly circuitous  or  equivocal  course;  with  seeming  to  be  in- 
tent on  the  accomplishment  of  one  object,  while  his  efforts  were 
really  directed  towards  another.  Xor  do  I  believe  that  he  was 
justly  chargeable  with  any  lack  of  firmness, — however  his 
christian  courtesy  and  love  of  peace  may  have  sometimes  car- 
ried him  to  what  some  would  regard  an  extreme  of  forbearance 
or  lenity.  His  firmness  certainly  never  degenerated  into  ob- 
stinacy, but  existed  as  a  twin  sister  to  that  charity  which 
thinketh  no  evil,  and  which  hopeth  all  things;  nevertheless  he 
felt  his  convictions  strongly,  and  valued  them  highly,  and  ad- 
hered to  them  in  all  cases  which  he  deemed  important,  with 
unwavering  fidelity."  ^ 

1  Dr.  Sprague's  Disc.  Commcm.,  9-12. 


390  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  4. 

To  multitudes  it  will  be  a  recommendation  of  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's example,  that  it  brings  to  view  attainments  within  the 
reach  of  men  in  general,  rather  than  a  mere  object  of  ad- 
miration, far  beyond  the  grasp  of  ordinary  mortals.  As  al- 
ready intimated,  he  was  certainly  not  distinguished  by 
great  genius,  in  the  common  acceptation  of  that  word  ;  nor 
was  he  even  pre-eminent  as  a  scholar — least  of  all  as  an 
original  investigator,  in  any  department  of  human  learning. 
If  he  had  a  just  claim  to  superiority,  it  was  for  the  sym- 
metry, finish,  and  practical  efficiency  which  assiduous  labor, 
in  the  plain,  beaten  track  of  life,  had  wrought  in  a  sound, 
vigorous,  active,  well-balanced  mind.  His  personal  ap- 
pearance was  undoubtedly  a  help  to  success  ;  but  that  ad- 
vantage  alone,  as  it  has  been  said  of  patronage,  could,  at 
most,  only  have  sent  him  up  like  a  rocket,  to  fall  like  the 
stick.  InAvardly  he  was,  by  nature,  by  diligent  cultivation, 
and  by  divine  grace,  something  like  what  he  was,  by  nature 
and  providence,  outwardly.  Not  trusting  to  natural  ad- 
vantages, he  had  striven  to  turn  those  that  he  possessed  to 
good  account,  and  make  the  most  of  them  for  the  great 
ends  of  human  being. 

His  methodical,  systematic  industry  has  been  spoken 
of.  With  him,  however,  method,  routine  and  diligence 
were  not  so  rigid  as  to  become  ungraceful  in  himself,  or  an 
annoyance  to  others.  He  was  gently  persistent  in  his  ap- 
pointed toil,  readily  resuming  it  after  interruption,  putting 
a  price  upon  each  moment,  and  wisely  redeeming  the  time. 
Yet  he  seldom  worked  under  high  pressure.  Few  men 
know,  and  fewer  still  can  drive  themselves  to  realize,  what 
the  mind  may  be  compelled  to  accomplish  ;  and  the  secret 
is  far  too  dangerous  to  life  to  be  ordinarily  a  desirable  pos- 
session. Dr.  Miller  conscientiously  guarded  health  and 
comfort,  and  was  no  more  systematic  in  his  toils,  than  in 
taking  rest  and  recreation.  One  of  his  pupils  remarks, 
that  he  was  accustomed  to  say,  that  as  for  himself,  however 
it  might  be  with  others,  he  needed,  every  night,  eight  hours 
of  sleep,  well  rounded  out  at  both  ends. 

The  symmetry  of  his  character,  perhaps,  won  for  him 
more  general  respect  and  esteem,  among  his  contempora- 
ries, than  could  possibly  have  been  won  by  brilliant  talents, 
or  vast  learning  alone.     If  he  never  dazzled,  he  usually 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    REMINISCENCES.  391 

attracted,  seldom  gave  offence,  was  free  from  affectation, 
mannerism  and  eccentricity.  Such  as  you  knew  liim  at  one 
time,  you  might  be  sure  to  find  him  at  another.  You  would 
say  that  correction  and  finish  had  been  his  aim,  rather  than 
great  achievement.  Ilis  kind  feelings,  his  unwillingness  to 
wound  others,  and  his  readiness  to  contribute  to  their  gra- 
tification and  to  the  accomplishment  of  their  scliemes,  en- 
couraged exactions  upon  his  time  and  strength,  to  which  he 
yielded,  for  the  most  part,  so  cheerfully,  as  to  gain  many 
friends,  even  if  he  lost  many  hours,  and  often  sacrificed  his 
own  comfort  and  convenience.  In  declining  a  request 
which  he  could  not  fulfill,  he  was  ever  stu<lious  not  to  of- 
fend or  alienate. 

The  influence  which  he  could  exert  with  others,  in  public 
bodies,  and  in  social  life,  he  often  carefully  employed  for 
the  accomplishment  of  purposes  which  he  deemed  desirable 
and  important ;  but  few  men  have  been  more  free  from  a 
spirit  of  intrigue,  from  a  narrow  regard  to  the  seeming  po- 
licy of  the  moment,  or  from  the  ambition  to  be  a  leader. 
A  large  charity,  a  love  of  peace,  and  the  painfulness  of 
giving  pain,  sometimes  exposed  him,  perhaps,  to  the  charge 
of  vacillation,  or  of  being  unduly  tolerant  of  error  in  doc- 
trine or  practice.  Yet  he  was  resolute  and  unyielding  in 
the  maintenance  of  whatever  he  deemed  important  to  the 
order  and  purity  of  the  Church,  or  the  welfare  of  society  at 
large. 

'  He  had  few,  if  any,  personal  enemies.  I  can  hardly  ima- 
gine that  any  one  could  have  borne  him  malice.  IIi»  impulses 
were  those  of  a  true  and  frank  Christian  gentleman,  and  any 
natural  excitability  or  irascibility  that  he  may  have  had  w;is 
well  in  subjection.  He  was  not  only  open  and  cordial  in  his 
address,  free  from  any  haughtiness  or  moroseness,  but  without 
the  least  natural  or  studied  repulsiveness.  He  invited  the  in- 
tercourse of  the  most  modest,  and  sufiered,  with  unexceptionable 
deportment,  that  of  the  most  offensive  and  intrusive,  unless 
dignity  required  him  to  show  feeling.  But  I  remember  no  oc- 
casion when  such  a  duty  overcame  his  good  manners.' 

One  of  his  grandchildren,  Margaret  E.  Breckinridge, 
since  deceased,  said  of  her  grandfather, 

'His  sweetness  of  temper  and  patience  under  provocation 
were  striking  to  me  even  as  a  child.  He  was  always  quick  to 
find   an  excuse  for  a  delinquent,  and  often,  by  some  pleasant 


392  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  4. 

remark,  or  laughing  apology,  for  an  offending  party,  softened 
the  anger  of  those  about  him,  when  they  felt  themselves  ag- 
grieved. 

'  Humility  was  one  of  his  most  obvious  traits.  He  seemed 
to  think  no  kindness  or  attention  was  to  be  received  as  his  due, 
to  regard  no  ill  treatment  as  wholly  undeserved ;  and,  as  to 
such  treatment,  he  always  appeared  disposed  to  overlook  second 
causes,  and  to  refer  it,  with  every  other  event,  directly  to 
God.' 

Dr.  Miller  "  was  greatly  distinguished  by  his  Christian  at- 
tainments. 

"  The  foundation  of  his  religious  character  was  laid  in  a  deep, 
reverential  and  abiding  sense  of  the  importance  of  divine  truth. 
What  his  views  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  were,  is  sufficiently 
indicated  by  the  fact,  that  he  was  honestly  and  thoroughly  a 
Presbyterian:  he  received  the  Confession  of  Faith  in  its  legiti- 
mate and  obvious  import ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  regarded 
the  Bible  as  the  ultimate  standard,  and  reverenced  the  former 
only  because  it  conformed  to  the  latter.  Redemption  by  the 
Blood  and  Spirit  of  Christ  he  considered  as  the  cardinal  doc- 
trine of  Christianity, — the  central  point  of  its  glory, — the  lead- 
ing element  of  its  power.  He  studied  the  Bible  earnestly,  con- 
stantly, not  merely  as  a  source  of  theological  knowledge,  but 
especially  as  a  means  of  spiritual  culture;  and  no  doubt  it  was 
under  this  influence  chiefly,  that  his  spiritual  life  became  so  vi- 
gorous and  all  his  graces  so  mature. 

"  He  possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  devotional  spirit.  No 
one  could  hear  him  pray  without  being  struck  with  the  humble, 
grateful,  child-like  temper  that  marked  his  supplications. 
There  was  a  reverent  freedom,  an  elevated  fervor  in  his  ap- 
proaches to  the  throne  of  grace,  which  showed  that  he  was  en- 
gaged in  his  favorite  employment ;  and  we  felt  that  the  fire 
which  was  burning  so  brightly  in  the  lecture-room  or  the  sanc- 
tuary, had  been  kindled  in  the  closet.  It  was  not  necessary 
that  one  should  be  personally  acquainted  w4th  his  private  reli- 
gious habits,  to  feel  perfectly  assured  that  he  was  eminently  a 
man  of  prayer ;  for  his  public  devotional  services  proved  it,  as 
truly  as  the  shining  of  Moses'  face  proved  that  he  had  been  on 
the  Mount.  And  what  he  exemplified  so  well  in  his  own  cha- 
racter, he  affectionately  and  impressively  urged  upon  others, 
and  especially  upon  his  pupils.  Many  a  student  can  testify 
that  the  last  interview  which  his  revered  professor  held  with 
him,  previous  to  his  leaving  the  Seminary,  was  concluded  by 
his  offering  up  a  fervent  prayer  that  God's  blessing  might  at- 
tend him  in  all  coming  time,  and  throughout  a  coming 
eternitv. 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    REMINISCENCES.  393 

"Dr.  Miller  was  distinguished  by  a  benevolent  spirit,  in  C(m- 
nection  with  a  well  directed  Christian  activity.  I  have  already 
said  that  he  possessed  a  large  share  of  natural  benevolence ; 
but  I  refer  here  to  that  higher  quality  which  is  one  of  the  fruits 
of  the  Spirit,  and  is  habitually  controlled  and  directed  by 
Christian  principle ;  and  of  this,  I  nuiy  safely  say,  he  was  a 
bright  example.  He  walked  constantly  in  the  footsteps  of  Ilim 
who  went  about  doing  good.  He  watched  for  opportunities  to 
do  good; — good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ; — good  to  those 
near  at  hand  and  to  those  afar  ofi'.  Without  very  ample  })e- 
cuniary  means,  he  was  still  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  various 
objects  of  Christian  benevolence  that  solicited  his  aid  ;  and,  in 
some  instances,  I  know  that  he  volunteered  the  most  unex- 
pected and  generous  benefactions.  His  benevolence,  however, 
did  not  reserve  itself  for  signal  occasions;  but  was  manifested 
in  his  daily  intercourse  with  society  and  in  connection  with' all 
the  little  affairs  of  life.  Indeed,  he  seemed  always  to  be  acting 
in  obedience  to  the  impulses  of  Christian  good  will ;  and  if  an 
opportunity  presented  to  confer  innocent  pleasure,  much  more 
substantial  benefit,  upon  any  of  his  fellow-creatures,  even  the 
humblest, — provided  no  paramount  interest  required  his  atten- 
tion,  he  deemed  it  an  occasion  not  unworthy  of  his  considera- 
tion and  his  efforts. 

"It  was  one  great  advantage  that  he  possessed  above  many 
other  good  men,  that  his  Christian  life  was  ordered  with  the 
strictest  regard  to  system.  His  purposes  of  good  were  formed, 
and  his  means  of  accomplishing  them  arranged,  so  as  to  occa- 
sion no  perplexing  interference.  You  would  olten  find  him 
greatly  pressed  with  engagements  which,  with  his  feeble  health 
and  advanced  age,  he  scarcely  felt  adetpiate  to  meet ;  but  you 
would  never  find  him  thrown  into  an  inextricable  maze  and 
not  knowing  what  to  do  next,  for  want  of  due  forethought  and 
calculation.  It  was  surprising  to  many  that  he  accomplished  so 
much,  in  various  ways,  in  his  last  years :  the  secret  of  it  was 
that  he  worked  to  the  full  measure  of  his  strength,  and  did 
every  thing  by  rule. 

"  It  was  the  natural  result  of  his  uncommon  regard  to  system, 
in  connection  with  his  strict  conscientiousness  about  even  the 
smallest  matters,  that  he  was  remarkably  punctual  in  fulfilling 
his  engagements.  He  made  engagements  cautiously,  and  ge- 
nerally subjoined  the  condition, — "if  the  Lord  will ;''  but  when 
once  niade,  they  were  as  sacred  as  an  oath.  I  have  myself  re- 
cently had  experience  of  this  trait  in  his  character  in  a  way 
which  has  awakened  at  once  my  gratitude  and  admiration. 
Some  time  ago  I  had  occasion  to  ask  of  him  certain  services 
Vol.  II.— 31 


394  GENERAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.   4. 

which  I  deemed  important,  and  a  part  of  which  none  but  him- 
self could  render.  He  answered  me  with  his  usual  kindness, 
expressing  a  wish  to  do  what  I  had  asked,  and  an  intention  to 
do  it  if  his  waning  strength  should  permit ;  but  would  not  ab- 
solutely promise,  lest  he  should  disappoint  me.  The  result  was 
that,  from  time  to  time,  as  he  felt  able,  he  tasked  himself  to 
comply  with  my  request ;  and  one  of  the  latest  efforts  of  his  pen 
was  to  finish  what  he  had  not  dared  to  promise  that  he  would 
even  undertake. 

"He  was  remarkable  for  self-control, — for  the  subjection  of 
his  appetites  and  passions  to  the  dictates  of  reason  and  religion. 
He  was  proverbially  temperate  in  all  things  ;    *     *     The  pas- 
sion of  anger  no  doubt  belonged  to  his  constitution ;  I  think  I 
have  seen  it  once  or  twice  flash  in  his  countenance ;  but  I  never 
heard  of  its  blazing  forth  in  bitter  or  unseemly  expressions. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  have  known  of  his  sustaining  himself  in 
dignified  tranquillity,  when  most  other  good  men  would  have 
been  wrought  into  a  fever  of  excitement;  and  I  have  heard  him 
utter  kind  and  forgiving  words,  when  he  had  been  the  object  of 
marked  personal  indignity.  An  instance  which  I  can  never  for- 
get, occurred  in  one  of  my  last  interviews  with  him ;  in  which 
he  took  special  pains  to  give  me  a  favorable  opinion  of  a  man 
who,  I  knew,  had  done  him  an  injury ;  and  when  I  adverted  to 
the  fact,  he  acknowledged  it,  but  added, — "He  was  a  good 
man,  notwithstanding."     In  short,  he  was  a  noble  example  of 
Christian  magnanimity.     You  saw  reflected  in  his  whole  life 
the  true  greatness  of  religion."  ^ 

It  has  already  been  intimated,  more  than  once,  that  Dr. 
Miller  was  naturally  of  a  quick,  rash  temper ;  but  its  con- 
trol he  had  early  recognized  as  an  imperative,  christian 
duty,  and  had  made  a  systematic  study  and  practice.  On 
this  point  he  never  trusted  himself  to  the  impulses  of  the 
moment :  what  course  he  should  pursue  when  attacked,  and 
even  wantonly  provoked,  he  was  accustomed  to  consider 
beforehand ;  and  such  frequent  consideration  had  fixed 
with  him,  in  conviction  and  habit,  the  law  of  non-resistance 
of  evil,  himself  only  being  concerned,  as  the  ruling  prin- 
ciple of  his  life.  An  instance  just  now  comes  to  mind,  in 
which  a  brother  minister,  at  his  side,  in  public,  alluded 
rouf^hly  and  cynically  to  a  most  innocent  remark  of  a  hor- 
tatory kind,  which  Dr.  Miller  had  a  little  before  made,  and 
illustrated  by  reference  to  a  distinguished  old  divine.     He 

*  Dr.  Sprague's  Dis3.  Commem.,  14-19. 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    REMINISCENCES.  395 

sat  SO  perfectly  unmoved,  not  even  by  ca  look  betraying  any 
consciousness  of  the  blow,  and  passed  it  by  in  such  entire 
silence,  that  one  of  his  sons,  who  had  been  present,  was 
curious  to  know,  afterwards,  whether  he  had  really  heard 
the  ill-natured  words.  Yes,  he  had  heard  them  distinctly  ; 
but  it  was  one  of  those  cases  in  which,  for  Christ's  sake, 
he  had  long  settled  it  with  himself,  that  he  would  never 
retaliate. 

"There  was  nothing  about  the  character  of  Dr.  Miller  more 
remarkable  than  its  completeness.  I  know  of  no  term  which 
expresses  so  adequately  as  this,  the  assemblage  of  admirable 
qualities  which  made  up  the  entire  man,  social,  intellectual  and 
moral,  together  with  the  harmonious  and  appro])riate  working 
of  the  same  in  every  relation  and  situation  of  life.  As  a 
Christian  gentleman,  a  scholar,  a  divine ;  as  a  pastor  and  a 
teacher  of  theology;  as  a  counsellor  and  a  controversialist; 
as  a  citizen  and  the  head  of  a  family ;  in  his  manners, 
in  his  secular  transactions,  in  the  structure  of  his  sermons, 
in  the  cast  of  all  his  public  devotional  ministrations; 
there  were  to  be  seen  a  refined  taste,  a  synmietry,  an  adaptation 
to  circumstances,  a  conformity  to  what  the  station  or  the  occa- 
sion called  for,  which  could  not  fail  to  produce  the  impression 
that  his  character  was  one  of  wonderful  completeness — a  fit 
model  to  be  kept  before  the  eyes  of  the  rising  ministry  of  a 
Church. 

"  It  were  small  praise  to  say  of  Dr.  Miller  that  he  was  a  pious 
man.  He  was  a  man  of  eminent  piety.  His  own  testimony 
respecting  that  patriarchal  servant  of  God,  the  late  Dr.  Green, 
might  b3  applied  to  himself.  "In  his  conversation;  in  his  cor- 
respondence; in  his  mode  of  counselling  those  who  were  ad- 
dressing themselves  to  the  study  of  theology ;  nay,  in  the  most 
casual  and  unreserved  intercourses  of  society,  he  appeared  the 
deeply  spiritual,  devoted  man  of  God."  If  this  became  more 
and  more  the  case  as  he  advanced  in  years,  it  was  but  the  grad- 
ual change  which  usually  occurs  with  trees  long  "planted  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord,"  that  bring  forth  their  mellowest  fruit 
in  old  age.  His  whole  life  was  devoted  to  the  service  of  God, 
and  presented  an  example  of  Christian  consistency,  purity, 
activity,  and  benevolence,  which  it  was  refreshing  to  look  upon. 
No  one  could  know  him  without  perceiving  that  his  own  j)eact' 
and  happiness  were  bound  up  with  the  prosperity  of  Zion;  that 
he  was  tenderly  alive  to  all  that  concerned  her  welfare,  and 
ever  ready  to  employ  his  powers  in  her  enlargement  or  defence. 
Those  who  were  brought  into  habits  of  close  intimacy  with 
him,  have  often  referred  to  the  unfeigned  humility  and  meek- 


396  GENERAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  [CH.  37.  4. 

ness  which  served  in  a  striking  manner  to  set  off  his  extensive 
and  varied  attainments.  jSTor  let  it  seem  derogatory  if  mention 
is  made  of  his  inflexible  integrity.  For  although  piety  neces- 
sarily supposes  the  presence  of  integrity,  there  are  grades,  even 
among  honest  men;  and  Dr.  Miller  belonged  to  the  highest  of 
these  grades.  Abhorring  equivocation  and  deceit,  he  could  act 
neither  the  parasite  nor  the  partisan.  Too  polite  to  give  need- 
less offence,  he  abstained  from  the  use  of  harsh  epithets;  but 
his  opinions  were  uttered  on  all  occasions  with  great  explicit- 
ness,  and  those  with  whom  he  had  to  do,  always  knew  where  to 
find  him.  The  law  of  truth  was  not  only  on  his  tongue,  but  in 
his  heart.  The  controlling  principle  of  his  character  was  an 
earnest  desire  and  habitual  endeavour  to  do  eight — to  do  the 
will  of  God.  He  strove  to  bring  all  his  powers  and  all  his  pas- 
sions into  subjection  to  this  principle.  He  carried  it  into  every 
department  of  his  official  labours,  into  his  controversial  writ- 
ings, into  his  intercourse  with  general  society  and  with  his  most 
intimate  friends.  It  kept  guard  upon  his  lips  and  upon  his 
feelings ;  and  gave  so  decided  a  cast  to  the  whole  tenor  of  his 
being,  that  the  nearer  the  view  one  obtained  of  his  character, 
the  more  certainly  was  the  impression  made  upon  his  mind  that 
the  venerable  divine  was  a  singularly  conscientious  man — a 
man  who  was  governed  in  all,  even  ihe  most  trivial  matters, 
not  by  impulse  or  caprice,  not  by  interest  or  convenience,  not 
by  a  thirst  for  popularity  or  fame,  but  by  elevated  and  in- 
flexible Christian  principle. 

"  His  prompt  and  cheerful  benevolence  may  be  adverted  to 
as  supplying  a  single  illustration  as  well  of  this  attribute  of  his 
character,  as  of  his  great  kindness  of  heart.  No  man  could  be 
more  exempt  from  selfishness  than  Dr.  Miller  was.  Benevo- 
lence w^as  with  him  both  a  principle  of  piety  and  a  sanctified 
aftection.  *  *  He  had  adopted  the  Apostle's  maxim — "As 
we  have  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  to  all  men,  especially  to 
them  Avho  are  of  the  household  of  faith."  And  he  Avas  far  from 
restricting  the  application  of  this  maxim  to  pecuniary  matters. 
If  he  was  a  "cheerful  giver'',  he  was  no  less  a  true  friend  and  a 
kind  counsellor,  ever  ready  to  advise  the  perplexed,  to  reclaim 
the  erring,  to  raise  the  fallen,  to  console  the  afflicted.  Ko  one 
who  was  in  trouble  or  in  danger  could  go  to  him  without  finding 
sympathy  and  such  assistance  as  it  might  be  in  his  power  to 
bestow."  ^ 

The  following  paragraph  appeared,  after  Dr.  Miller's 
death,  in  The  Presbyterian. 

'  Dr.  Boardman's  Tribute,  etc  ,  13-10. 


1839.]  MISCELLANEOUS    KEMINISCENCES.  397 

Dr.  Miller  and  Daniel  Websteij.  One  day,  several 
years  ago,  while  I  was  a  student  in  the  Seniinarv  at  Princeton,  I 
was  on  my  way  to  Philadelphia.  The  steamboat  on  which  the 
last  few  miles  of  the  journey  were  made,  was  somewhat  crowded 
Avith  passengers.  Among  these  was  llobert  Horner,  well  known 
a  few  years  ago  to  every  Princetonian.  As  I  was  sitting  in  a 
corner,  Mr.  Horner  came  up  and  whispered  to  me  that  Daniel 
AVebster  was  on  board.  Following  the  direction  of  his  eye,  sure 
enough  there  was  Webster,  enveloped  in  a  sort  of  green  overcoat, 
his  hat  slouched  over  his  eyes.  He  was  walking  s^lowly  up  and 
down  the  promenade  deck — and  at  each  end  of  tiie  walk  stood 
a  group  of  passengers,  watching  him  with  very  much  the  eyes 
visitors  are  wont  to  have  on  visiting  Barnum's  Museum.  Beside 
the  statesman  walked  the  venerable  Dr.  Miller.  He  seemed  to 
be  conversing  most  earnestly  with  Webster,  as  if  having  a  great 
deal  to  say  in  a  short  time.  There  was  that  peculiar  bend  of 
the  head  to  one  side,  and  gesture  of  the  right  hand,  which 
every  acquaintance  of  the  Doctor  cannot  but  recollect.  Webster 
walked  silent,  grave,  respectful,  listening  with  inclined  head 
and  deferential  manner  to  the  earnest  but  low-toned  conversa- 
tion of  the  man  of  God.  I  do  not  know,  of  course,  yet  at  the 
time  I  could  not  help  believing,  that  the  conversation  was  upon 
the  subject  of  religion.  From  the  peculiar  bearing  of  both,  I 
was  satisfied  that  the  Doctor  had  seized  the  providence,  and  was 
using,  to  his  best  ability,  the  moment  given  him  of  speaking 
about  his  soul's  salvation  to  a  man  occupied  beyond  most  men 
in  things  of  the  world.  Any  one  who  knows  these  two  men 
w'ell,  can,  by  closing  his  eyes,  have  this  whole  scene  over  again, 
as  I  then  saw'  it — Daniel  Webster  and  Dr.  Miller  thnnvn  to- 
gether by  God  for  the  last  time  in  their  lives — Webster  but- 
toned up  in  his  green  overcoat,  his  hat  drawn  down  over  his 
deep  eyes  and  dark  face,  listening  silently,  gravely — Dr.  ]\Iillcr, 
buttoned  to  the  chin  in  his  black  surtout,  his  white  hair,  his 
ruddy,  cordial  face  turned  in  earnest  conversation  to  his  com- 
panion, as  they  walked  up  and  down  the  deck.  It  was  a  pic- 
ture for  a  painter.  I  will  remember  the  two  men  always  thus 
together.  I  do  believe  in  a  special  Providence — it  was  not  ac- 
cident, this.  Who  can  say  what  effect  the  words  there  spoken 
may  have  not  had  toward  the  deathbed  professions  of  the  de- 
parted statesman?  Augustin.' 


CHAPTER     THIRTY- EIGHTH. 

PROFESSIONAL     CHARACTERISTICS. 

1839. 


1.    The  Minister  of  the  Gospel. 

We  have  seen  that  Dr.  Miller,  on  coming  to  Princeton, 
resolved  not  to  merge  his  "office  as  a  minister  of  the  Grospel^ 
in  that  oiprofessor  ;"  ^  and  it  was  a  resolution  earnestly  and 
to  the  last  fulfilled.  He  certainly  did  not  underrate  the  im- 
portance of  the  chair  which  he  occupied  in  the  Seminary ; 
he  rather  magnified  it,  by  judging  that  a  professor's  ex- 
ample as  a  devoted,  laborious,  faithful  minister,  was,  above 
all  things  else,  a  requisite  for  his  successful  training  of 
ministers.    His  senior  colleague  said  of  him,  after  his  death, 

"  Besides  labouring  in  his  appropriate  vocation,  he  has  very 
frequently  preached  in  this  and  the  neighbouring  churches ;  and 
I  think  I  may  say,  that  I  never  knew  a  minister,  who  delighted 
more  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  As  he  advanced  in  life,  it  appeared 
to  his  friends  that  his  preaching  became  more  spiritual  and 
evangelical.  Even  to  the  day  when  the  decay  of  physical 
strength  confined  him  to  the  house,  he  sought  opportunities  of 
delivering  the  Gospel  message  to  the  congregations  in  the  vi- 
cinity."^ 

"Being  always  careful  in  his  preparations,  and  possessing  a 
neat  and  perspicuous  style  and  a  graceful  elocution,  he  contin- 
ually grew  in  popularity;  and  as  his  preaching  was  truly  evan- 
gelical, it  was  highly  acceptable  to  serious  Christians.  At  an 
age  much  earlier  than  usual,  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity  "^^  "^  a  distinction  which  he  after- 
wards received  from  other  sources;  as  well  as  recently  that  of 
Doctor  of  Laws."  ^ 

1 II  Vol.,  10.  2  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,  581. 

3  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,  580. 

398 


1839.]  THE    MINISTER    OF   THE    GOSPEL.  399 

Dr.  Miller  certainly  took  great  delight  in  preaching,  and 
this  being  well  known,  he  was  very  frequently  invited,  by 
neighboring  pastors,  to  occupy  tlieir  pulpits,  llis  regular 
appointments,  therefore, — for  a  time  in  the  College  cliapel 
and  village  church,  afterwards  in  the  Seminary  chapel, — 
which  have  been  already  mentioned,  furnished  by  no  means 
his  only  opportunities  of  directly  fulfilling  his  ollice  as  an 
ambassador  of  Christ.  It  may  be  said  that  he  was  always 
ready  to  preach,  especially  in  those  churches,  of  which  there 
were  almost  a  score  around  him,  to  which  he  could  ride,  or 
drive,  on  Sabbath  morning,  and  return  home,  as  he  gen- 
erally did,  from  the  church  door,  immediately  after  service. 
Occasionally,  he  would  take  some  pastor,  within  ten  miles, 
by  surprise,  and  preach  for  him  if  "the  way  were  clear." 
The  truth  is,  that  a  number  of  them  had  given  him  ex- 
pressly to  understand,  that  he  would  be  always  welcome; 
so  that  he  was  not  merely  experimenting  on  their  courtesy, 
or  eagerness  for  help.  The  Rev.  James  W.  Blythe,  one 
of  his  highly  esteemed  pupils,  who  was  pastor,  for  a  number 
of  years,  of  the  Second  Church  in  Cranberry,  says, 

'Towards  the  close  of  your  father's  active  ministerial  life,  it 
was  frequently  my  privilege  to  welcome  him,  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  to  my  house  and  to  my  pulpit.  Often,  without  any  pre- 
vious notice,  he  was  seen  to  drive  into  my  gate;  and  his  usual 
salutation  was,  "Have  you  any  thing  for  an  old  man  to  do?" 
I  think  I  can  hear  that  cheerful  tone,  and  see  the  polished 
manner  of  its  utterance,  now ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  pleasantest 
memories  of  my  ministry.  He  was  always  a  welcome  occupant 
of  my  pulpit.  The  whole  congregation  loved  him,  because  they 
had  tried  him,  and  always  found  him  equal  to  their  just  expec- 
tations. 

'Several  of  my  children  were  baptized  by  your  father.  In 
the  service  at  the  church,  his  manner  was  all  that  it  ought  to 
have  been — solemn,  serious,  and  most  impressive.  ]>ut  it  did 
not  end  with  the  church  service.  AVhen  we  got  back  to  the 
house,  he  always  asked  for  the  child ;  and  he  would  take  it, 
when  brought,  into  his  arms  and  bless  it.  His  manner  then 
was  solemn  beyond  any  thing  I  have  ever  witnessed.  AVhen 
this  scene  first  occurred,  it  took  me  by  surprise,  and  was  almost 
too  much  for  my  calmness.  The  child  thus  first  blessed  hjis 
passed  away  from  earth;  but  he  was  not  taken,  until,  from  his 
almost  infiintile  lips,  were  heard  words  of  faith  and    prayer. 


400  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.       [CII.  38.  1. 

And  now,  in  my  fondest  recollections  of  that  child,  I  mingle 
the  scene  in  which  your  honored  father  blessed  him.' 

In  Dr.  Miller's  later  years,  his  formal  pulpit  discourses 
were  almost  uniformly  read  from  the  full  manuscript.  As 
a  rare  thing,  he  returned  to  his  old  method  of  memoriter 
preaching,  or  preached  extemporaneously,  though  not  with- 
out careful  preparation.  His  extemporaneous  speaking, 
whether  in  the  pulpit,  at  the  professor's  desk,  or  elsewhere, 
was  easy,  natural,  and  sometimes  more  animated  and  forci- 
ble than  his  usual  readins^ ;  but  the  habit  of  trustino;  to  his 
manuscript  had  made  him  distrustful  of  himself  without  it. 
He  always  encouraged,  however,  in  ministers  and  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry,  the  effort  to  become  good  extem- 
porizers ;  though  not  without  cautioning  them  against  the 
dangers  of  success.     To  one  of  his  sons  he  wrote, 

'The  most  serious  objection,  in  my  view,  to  the  habit  of 
preaching  without  papers,  is,  that  when  a  man  finds  he  can 
preach  passably  and  acceptably  thus,  his  indolence  will  be  apt 
to  tempt  him  not  to  write  at  all,  or,  at  most,  very  seldom.  And 
he  who  abandons  writing  will  soon,  inevitably,  become  common- 
place and  superficial.  I  have  never  known  this  to  fail:  it  did 
not  even  in  Dr.  Mason.  Three-fourths  of  his  sermons  were  of 
but  a  medium  character,  and  many  of  them  quite  drivelling,  as 
they  would  have  been  in  popular  estimate,  had  he  not  had  the 
knack  of  making,  in  most  of  his  discourses,  at  least  one  explo- 
sion, in  which  blast  of  voice,  an  overbearing  tone  of  authority,  > 
and  a  power  of  giving  emphasis  and  plausibility  to  mere  tru- 
isms, if  not  nonsense,  imparted  to  them  an  air  of  something  ex- 
traordinary.' 

Dr.  Hall,  of  Trenton,  having  spoken  of  Dr.  Miller's 
preaching,  occasionally,  by  invitation,  in  his  church,  re- 
marks, 

*  These  references  to  his  visits  recall  one  occasion,  on  which 
I  said  to  him,  that  if  the  day  on  which  he  had  consented  to 
come  should  be  unpleasant,  or  his  own  health  should  not  be 
comfortable,  he  need  not  run  any  risk  on  my  account,  as  I 
should  hold  myself  in  readiness  for  such  a  disappointment.  He 
lifted  up  his  hands  and  said,  "Brother  Hall,  you  astonish 
me !" — and  went  on  to  say,  that  he  had  never  been  able  to  pre- 
pare a  sermon  except  under  the  stress  of  necessity.' 

Dr.  Miller  once  said  to  the  writer,  during  a  horseback 
ride,  that  he  had  reason  to  be  thankful  that  he  had  never 


1839.]  THE    MINISTER    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  401 

b3en  a  pojndar  preacher — had  never  been  much  run 
after  ! 

He  was  a  punctual  attendant  upon  clmrcli  judicatories, 
and  took  an  active,  influential,  but  not  obtrusive  part  in 
their  deliberations.  From  an  early  period  in  his  ministry 
down  to  old  age,  much  of  tlie  business  of  tliese  bodies, 
in  the  shape  of  reports,  was  laid  upon  him  ;  and  there 
was  rarely  a  committee  of  ceremony  appointed  witli  wliich 
he  was  not  connected.  To  illustrate  liis  influence  in 
these  judicatories,  the  Rev.  11.  Whitefield  Hunt,  of 
Schooley's  Mountain,  mentions  the  case  of  an  appeal  to  the 
Synod  of  New  Jersey,  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Raritan,  to  organize  a  church  at  Lower  German  A^alley. 
Dr.  Miller  urged  that  the  appeal  should  be  sustained,. be- 
cause the  church  was  not  needed,  and  its  proposed  location 
was  surrounded  by  mountains  so  precipitous  as  to  be  unin- 
habited and  uninhabitable.  He  carried  the  Synod  with 
him,  and  the  General  Assembly  affirmed  their  judgment. 
The  following  summer  he  visited  the  Springs,  and  examined, 
for  himself,  the  ''debated  o;round."  'At  the  next  mootins 
of  the  Synod,  which  was  at  Princeton,'  writes  Mr.  Hunt, 
Dr.  Miller  'rose  in  his  place  and  remarked,  "Mr.  Mode- 
rator, there  has  been  a  great  deal  said  about  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  church  at  Lower  German  Valley.  At  the  last 
meeting  of  Synod  I  opposed  the  organization;  but  I  have 
since  visited  that  ground.  Mr.  Moderator,  we  have  been 
misled  ;  and  I  move  you.  Sir,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Rari- 
tan be  permitted  to  organize  the  church  forthwith."  The 
motion  was  carried  almost  by  acclamation.' 

Dr.  Miller  felt  deeply  his  obligation  to  admonish  others 
of  their  faults ;  and  painful  as  the  duty  was,  particularly 
to  one  of  his  kindly,  courteous  disposition,  it  was  not  al- 
ways neglected:  both  personally  and  by  letter  he  admin- 
istered many  a  christian  reproof.  His  brethren  in  the 
ministry  received  their  share  of  his  faithful  services  in  this 
way.  And,  for  the  most  part,  he  was  enabled  to  fulfill  his 
duty,  without  serious  or  lasting  offence. 

A  few  stray  opinions  of  Dr.  Miller's  in  regard  to  church 
matters  may  here  be  thrown  together. 

He  was  of  opinion  that  it  was  not  advisable,  in  ordi- 
nary cases,  to    examine    before  the  session  church  mem- 


402  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.       [CH.  38.  1. 

bers  bringing  certificates  from  Scotch,  Irish,  and  other 
foreign  churches ;  but  that  the  pastor  ought  to  converse 
with  them,  and,  in  this  way,  assure  himself  of  their  qualifi- 
cations for  admission. 

He  was  very  strenuous  in  advising,  that  the  pastor  him- 
self, with  such  help  as  he  could  obtain,  should  catechize  the 
children  of  his  charge  every  week ;  recommending  Satur- 
day afternoon  as  the  most  suitable  time,  because  week-day 
schools  were  not  then  in  session  ;  because  an  hour  spent  in 
this  way  would  not  often  be  regarded  as  inconsistent  with 
holiday  enjoyment,  yet  might  often  prevent  holiday  dissi- 
pation ;  and  because  it  would  be  a  preparation  for  the  Sab- 
bath. 

Both  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  were  opposed  to  the  modern 
device  of  fairs  for  paying  church  debts,  and  raising  money 
for  other  church  purposes.  The  latter,  in  one  of  her  let- 
ters, speaking  of  a  refreshment  table  spread  for  the  benefit 
of  the  church,  says,  '  I  cannot  go  with  the  multitude  to  do 
evil,  and  I  sit  at  home  and  fret,  and  try  to  pray,  and  some- 
times am  cheered  with  the  hope  of  better  times.'  And 
when  an  unexpected  claim  SAvept  aAvay  at  once  all  the  pro- 
fits of  such  an  adventure,  she  looked  upon  it  as  a  provi- 
dential reproof.^ 

When  inquired  of,  whether,  in  judicial  cases,  the  whole 
testimony  must  be  spread  upon  the  minutes.  Dr.  Miller  re- 
plied, '  By  no  means  ;  it  may  be  very  indelicate,  and  there- 
fore wholly  improper  to  go  upon  such  a  record ;  but  it  must 
all  be  carefully  preserved  upon  file,  if  not  put  on  the 
minutes.' 

1  Mrs.  Miller  here  hints  at  the  evils  of  church-fairs,  of  every  class,  Avithout 
mentioning  them  distinctly.  Many  doubtful,  or  even  obviously  sinful  prac- 
tices have  been  often  connected  with  them  ,•  and  fairs  conducted  unobjectiona- 
bly  have  countenanced,  before  an  undiscriminating  public,  those  with  which 
such  practices  have  been  connected;  nay,  have  countenanced  many  fairs,  so- 
called,  which  have  been  altogether  of  a  demoralizing  nature.  But  there  is  a 
deeper  principle  of  condemnation,  as  regards  all  such  expedients  for  raising 
money  for  the  advancement  of  the  Gospel.  The  very  thing  itself,  apart  from 
its  abuses,  is  an  evil.  The  Gospel  expressly  directs  how  means  for  its  own 
propagation  are  to  be  obtained — by  the  free-will  ofierings  of  Christ's  people, 
according  to  the  prosperity'  which  he  has  given  them.  Now,  to  employ  mere 
human  devices  to  accomplish  the  object  is  to  draw  away  attention  from  the 
Gospel  plan,  to  substitute  something  else  for  it,  to  teach  something  on  this 
subject  inconsistent  with  Christ's  teachings.  The  people  are  to  be  trained  to 
give  with  self-denial  and  simply  for  Jesus'  sake;  but,  instead  of  this,  by 
church  lectures,  and  fairs,  and  refreshment  tables,  they  are  taught  that  they 
may  advance  religion,  and  get  the  full  worth  of  their  money  in  self-gratifica- 


1839.]  the  professor.  403 

2.    The  Professor. 

])r.  Miller  was,  by  title,  from  first  to  last,  Professor  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  and  Churcfi  Government;  but  to 
these  departments  was  added  permanently  tliat  of  the 
Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons.  In  all,  lie  united 
the  two  methods  of  a  text-book  and  lectures;  telling  his 
pupils  that  confinement  to  the  latter  method  would  make 
them  too  dependent  upon  their  professor,  too  ready  to  take 
his  ipse  dixit  as  conclusive;  while  no  perfect  text-book 
could  be  found;  the  best  of  them  were  full  of  faults;  and 
yet  their  very  faults  might  prove  an  advantaf];e,  if  they 
kept  the  reader  more  awake  to  spy  them  out.  Upon  every 
subject  of  instruction  he  drew  up  question  books  or  'Cate- 
chisms', presenting  the  subject  in  a  brief  form  for  review 
and  examination.  These  the  students  seem  to  have  been 
encouraged,  or,  at  least,  permitted,  to  copy. 

To  Professor  Cogswell,  of  East  Windsor  Theological  In- 
stitute, Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  2Gth  of  September,  1884, 

*I  am  in  the  habit  of  meeting  the  First  (or  Senior)  class 
three  times  a  week ;  viz.,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoons  of 
Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday;  the  Second  (or  Middle) 
class,  twice  a  Aveek;  viz.,  on  Tuesday  and  Thursday  afternoons, 
at  three  o'clock  ;  and  the  Third  (or  Junior)  class,  once  a  week ; 
viz.,  on  Saturday  afternoons.  I  spend  about  an  hour  and  a 
quarter  with  each  class ;  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less ; 
but  that  may  be  considered  as  the  average.  Most  of  ray  lec- 
tures are  in  a  degree  extemporaneous.     In  many  of  them,  I 

tion,  at  the  same  time;  ami  the  result  is  selfishnoss,  in.stcail  of  Christian  libe- 
rality'. To  be  sure,  it  is  urged,  that  persons  outside,  who  otherwise  would  con- 
tribute nothing,  are  thus  reached  ;  that  it  is  clearly  lawful  for  Christians  to 
make  money  to  be  given  afterwards  to  Christ's  cause  ;  and  that  money  may  be 
made  for  this  object  by  associated  effort  as  pro])erly  as  by  an  individual.  But 
to  pervert  the  Church  for  the  money  of  those  altogether  outside  of  her  i)alc  id 
a  wretched  ])olicy ;  and,  moreover,  those  without  are  themselves  to  be  influ- 
enced and  drawn  in  ;  which  is  not  likely  to  be  effected  without  a  consistent 
Christian  exam])le.  As  to  the  other  plea,  it  is  a  mi,srepresentation  «f  the  sim- 
ple obvious  fact,  that,  by  such  expedients,  the  public,  including  church-meni- 
bers,  are  distinctly  called  upon  to  give  to  the  Church,  and  for  the  Church's 
sake;  so  that  the  Church  herself  is  regarded,  always,  as  raising  money  by  the 
means  employed  for  her  benefit  :  it  is  the  Church  which  thus  appears  to  teach, 
that  giving  to  Christ  is  to  find  a  present  reward,  in  the  gratification  of  appe- 
tite and  carnal  desire.  Besides,  God's  people,  though  by  no  means  so  liberal 
as  they  ought  to  be.  are  really  much  more  liberal  than  they  often  have  the  cre- 
dit of  being;  and  the  same  time  and  efTort,  spent  in  direct  solicitation  for 
Christ's  sake,  will  ordinarily  secure  more  money  than  when  devoted  to  fair?, 
or  any  other  like  expedient. 


404  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.      [CH.  38.  2. 

have  nothing  before  me  but  very  small  hints,  or  brief  memo- 
randa. In  other  cases,  I  have  about  one-half  written,  and  ex- 
temporize the  rest ;  and,  in  a  very  few  cases,  I  have  the  whole  writ- 
ten, where  the  language,  as  well  as  the  matter,  is  important. 

'A  beginning  with  fifteen  or  twenty  students  will  be  very  re- 
spectable and  auspicious.     We  began,  in  1812,  with  three  only. 

*  *  *  I  see  more  and  more  the  importance  of  union  and 
intercourse  between  those  who  think  substantially  alike  with 
respect  to  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel.  "^  * 

'  N.  B. — At  the  beginning  of  every  session  in  our  seminary  there 
is  an  introductory  lecture  delivered  by  one  of  our  professors  on 
some  general  subject  not  ordinarily  included  in  our  stated  course ; 
such  as,  The  Importance  of  Vital  Piety  in  Candidates  for  the 
Ministry;  The  Importance  of  a  Full  Course  of  Study;  The 
Means  of  gaining  most  Advantage  from  Social  Study;  etc., 
etc.     Each  of  the  professors  performs  this  service  in  turn.' 

Under  the  head  of  Ecclesiastical,  embracing  Biblical, 
History,  Dr.  Miller  always  included  Chronology  and  Sacred 
Geography.  To  the  end,  he  employed  Mosheim's  work  as 
his  chief  text-book.  Dr.  Maclaine's  was  the  only  English 
translation  of  it,  until,  in  1832,  Dr.  James  Murdock,  of 
New  Haven,  published  another,  adding  notes  equal,  per- 
haps, in  extent  to  the  original  itself.  Of  this  history  and 
its  translators  Dr.  Miller  said, 

"The  serious  defects  of  Dr.  Mosheim's  work  were  by  no 
means  overlooked ;  and  the  loose,  paraphrastical  character  of 
Dr.  Maclaine's  translation  was  distinctly  recognized,  and  has 
been  explicitly  stated  to  all  the  successive  classes  which  have 
passed  through  the  institution.  ^^  ^  As  far  as  my  examina- 
tion has  extended,  Dr.  Murdoch's  translation  is  far  more  close 
and  faithful  than  Dr.  Maclaine's;  his  additional  notes,  (though 
not,  in  all  cases,  such  as  I  should  have  chosen,  or  such  as  I  can 
entirely  concur  in,)  are  rich  and  instructive,  forming  a  very 
valuable  addition  to  the  original  work;  and  his  ample  referen- 
ces to  able  writers  on  the  several  parts  of  the  narrative  are  of 
great  value  to  students.  '''  '■'  Dr.  Murdoch's  Mosheim  will 
be  far  more  desirable  for  the  classes  in  Theological  Seminaries 
than  Dr.  Maclaine's,  or  any  other  form  of  the  learned  German's 
work  that  has  met  my  eye."  ^ 

The  following  letter  also  was  written  to  Professor  Cogs- 
well. 

1  The  Presbyterian,  lltli  of  April,  1832.     P.  35. 


1839.]  THE   PROFESSOR.  405 

'Rev'd  and  dear  Brother.  Princeton,  July  24,  1834. 

'Your  letter  of  the  15th  in.^tant  reached  me  five  days 
after  its  date.  I  received  and  perused  it  with  gratification,  yet 
not  without  embarrassment.  With  gratification,  because  I  was 
glad  to  find  that  I  enjoyed  any  portion  of  your  confidence ; — 
with  embarrassment,  because  I  felt  so  little  qualified  to  meet 
your  expectations  in  returning  an  answer.  It  is  true,  I  have 
been  more  than  twenty  years  engaged  in  my  present  employ- 
ment; but,  after  all,  I  must  acknowledge,  I  feel  very  poorly 
fitted  to  say  much  to  a  Brother  who  is  just  entering  on  the 
same  career  of  service.  Since  you  request  me,  however,  to  say 
something,  I  cannot  prevail  on  myself  to  remain  silent. 

'I  make  the  Bible  my  only  text-book  in  the  commencement 
of  my  course  of  Ecclesiastical  History ;  and  as  far  as  the  Old 
Testament  narrative  reaches.  I  consider  the  visible  church  as 
having  been  founded  in  the  family  of  Adam,  and  as  beginning 
as  soon  as  man  was  placed  under  a  dispensation  of  mercy.  It 
is  wholly  incredible  in  my  view,  that  there  should  be  no  visible 
church  in  the  world  until  the  call  of  Abraham.  Can  it  be  ima- 
gined that,  during  these  two  thousand  years,  there  should  be 
pious  people; — a  people  to  whom  the  will  of  (lod  was  imparted; 
— a  people  professing  the  true  religion; — a  people  worship])ing 
God  by  sacrifices,  etc.,  in  the  way  of  his  own  appointment, — 
and  yet  no  church?  What  is  a  church,  but  a  body  of  people, 
professing  the  true  religion,  together  with  their  children? 
Surely,  there  was  such  a  body  in  the  family  of  Adam.  Dr. 
Mason's  doctrine,  that  the  church  commenced  in  the  family  of 
Abraham,  I  am  constrained  to  reject. 

'My  plan  is  to  begin  with  a  Lecture  preliminary  to  my  course 
of  instruction,  announcing  my  plan  ; — showing  the  importance 
of  studying  the  Bible,  and  being  familiar  with  its  history  as 
well  as  with  its  doctrines ; — and  labouring  to  impress  the  minds 
of  the  students  with  the  necessity  of  their  being  at  home  in 
the  Bible, — both  as  Christians  and  as  Ministers.  I  then  give 
out  a  certain  number  of  chapters,  on  the  history  of  which  the 
class  is  to  be  examined  at  the  next  interview.  When  we  come 
together  the  next  time,  I  spend  about  twenty  or  thirty  min- 
utes in  examining  them  on  the  portion  specified,  and  having 
done  so,  deliver  a  lecture  on  the  most  prominent  and  interest- 
ing points  embraced  in  the  narrative.  I  have  delivered  Lec- 
tures on  the  following  subjects.  1.  The  Creation,  including 
the  question  whether  the  days  of  creation  were  natural,  or  de- 
miurgic. I  reject  the  New  Haven  doctrine  that  the  <lays  of 
creation  were  demiurgic,  and  cannot  doubt  that  they  were  six 
natural  days.    2.  The  Divine  Origin  and  Purpose  of  Sacrifices. 


406  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.       [CH.  88.  2. 

3.  The  Origin  of  Language.  4.  The  Character  of  the  Ante- 
diluvian Period.  ^  *  On  all  these  subjects  I  recommend 
particular  books,  as  they  occur  to  me ;  such  as  I  suppose  con- 
tain the  best  views,  either  for  or  against  the  doctrine  which  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  right :  such  as  Schuckford  ;  Prideaux  ;  Win- 
der's "  History  of  Knowledge" ;  Faber's  "  Three  Dispensa- 
tions" ;  Faber's  "  Hovse  Mosaicse" ;  "  Farmer  on  Miracles ;" 
Ancient  Universal  History ;  Warburton's  "  Divine  Legation  of 
Moses" ;  several  works  on  Atonement  and  Sacrifice,  such  as 
Magee's,  Outram's,  etc. ;  Commentators  ;  particular  Essays,  etc., 
etc. ;  Josephus ;  Stackhouse's  History  of  the  Bible ;  Bedford's 
Chronology;  Buddoeus'  Historia  Ecclesiastica  Veteris  Testa- 
ment!, etc.,  etc. ;  Jahn's  Hebrew  Commonwealth,  etc. ;  Rus- 
sell's work,  intended  to  fill  the  place  between  Schuckford  and 
Prideaux,  etc.  All,  or  as  many  as  possible,  of  the  foregoing 
works,  I  should  wish  to  have  in  my  study,  when  I  entered  on 
my  duties,  together  with  as  good  maps  of  the  places  and  coun- 
tries mentioned  in  Scripture,  as  can  be  procured.  I  consider 
Prideaux's  work,  though  heavy  and  dull,  as  peculiarly  rich  and 
valuable  for  the  ground  which  it  covers  in  the  Old  Testament 
history.  Stowe's  edition  of  Jahn  is  also  exceedingly  valuable 
for  the  rich  references  to  books  which  it  contains  at  the  close 
of  each  chapter. 

'When  I  entered  on  the  duties  of  my  Professorship,  I  was 
very  raw,  and  very  poorly  prepared  for  it.  But  I  formed  three 
resolutions:  First,  to  throw  myself  humbly  on  the  grace  and 
strength  of  God ;  secondly,  to  keep  my  unfitness  for  the  work, 
as  much  as  possible,  to  myself;  saying  little  about  it,  either  in 
public  or  private ;  and,  thirdly,  to  bring  out  of  my  little  trea- 
sure, as  much  as  I  could,  from  day  to  day,  without  allowing 
myself  to  be  either  too  much  mortified,  or  too  anxious  about 
the  result.  My  health,  at  the  time,  was  feeble.  I  could  not 
study  much.  And  yet  I  was  enabled  to  be  tranquil,  and  to 
commit  my  way  and  its  results,  to  the  Lord.  I  very  slowly 
got  the  better  of  my  painful  sense  of  unfitness :  I  am  not  now, 
and  never  shall  be,  qualified  for  my  work,  in  the  manner  that 
a  man  would  be  Avho  should  begin  earlier  (I  was  44  years  of 
age)  to  engage  in  that  course  of  reading  which  is  adapted  to 
his  office. 

'You  may  rest  assured,  my  dear  Brother,  that  my  colleagues 
and  myself  take  a  deep  interest  in  your  general  enterprise  and 
in  your  individual  success.  It  will  give  us  cordial  pleasure  to 
learn  that  your  students  multiply,  and  that  the  Lord  visibly 
smiles  on  your  important  undertaking.  We  were  glad  of  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  you  here;  and  shall  all  feel  unfeigned 
gratification  in  being  able  to  promote,  in  any  way,  your  views. 


1839.]  THE   PROFESSOR.  407 

'With  regard  to  myself  personally,  I  have  only  to  say,  that 
I  feel  grateful  for  the  confidence  which  your  letter  expresses  in 
me;  and,  although  I  am  conscious  of  not  meriting  it,  yet  I  am 
still  thankful  and  gratified,  and  hope  I  shall  be  enabled  always 
to  act  a  part,  in  some  degree  worthy  of  that  confidential  inter- 
course which  ought  to  subsist  between  those  who  are  situated  as 
we  are. 

*  It  gives  me  peculiar  pleasure,  my  dear  Brother,  that  you  re- 
ceived, in  the  kind  manner  which  you  did,  my  suggestions  on 
the  importance  of  making  deep,  vital  piety  a  leading  object  in  a 
Theological  Seminary.  My  impressions  on  this  subject  are  far 
more  deep  and  solemn  than  they  were  when  I  entered  on  the 
duties  of  my  office.  Let  it  be  sacredly  confidential,  when  I  say, 
that  my  observations  on  the  Xew  Haven  students  in  this  re- 
spect have  been  painful.  They  seem  to  me  to  have  very  little 
of  the  meek,  humble,  devout  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  Their  semi- 
pelagianism  is  leading  them,  in  this  respect,  already,  unless  I 
am  deceived,  just  whither  it  has  led  others.  May  your  stu- 
dents go  as  much  beyond  them,  in  this  important,  vital  matter, 
as  in  orthodoxy. 

*  The  Lord  be  with  you,  my  dear  Sir : 

'  so  prays  your  brother  in  Christ, 

'Sam'l  Miller. 

*P.  S. — I  dare  not  keep  back  one  suggestion,  dictated  by  a 
sincere  regard  to  your  success  and  comfort.  Knowing  the  dis- 
comfort, as  well  as  the  other  mischiefs  of  the  want  of  entire 
harmony  and  cordiality  among  colleagues  in  the  same  Institu- 
tion, one  of  the  "Eesolutions"  I  formed  in  coming  to  Princeton 
was, — that  nothing  should  tempt  me  to  quarrel  with  my  col- 
leagues: that,  however  they  might  treat  me,  I  would  merge  my 
own  feelings  and  honour  in  my  Master's  glory.  By  the  favour 
of  God,  I  think  no  three  men  were  ever  more  united,  in  affec- 
tion and  confidence,  than  we  are.' 

To  the  same  highly  esteemed  correspondent,  Dr.  Miller 
gave,  at  a  later  date,  the  following  account  of  his  course  of 
Church  Government. 

'Rev'd  and  dear  Brother,  Princeton,  August  4,  183G. 

'Yours  of  July  27th  was  received  three  days  after  its 
date.  I  consider  myself  as  honored  by  the  application  which 
it  contains;  and  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  give  a  more  satis- 
factory answer.  But  what  I  can  say,  I  will  lay  before  you 
with  much  pleasure. 

'I  always  make  the  study  of  Church  Government  a  separate 


408  PROFESSIONAL   CHARACTERISTICS.       [CH.  38.  2. 

matter  from  that  of  Ecclesiastical  History.  lu  pursuing  the 
former  study,  I  have  ever  most  painfully  felt  the  want  of  a 
suitable  text- book.  I  know  of  none,  and  consider  the  formation 
of  one  as  a  great  desideratum  for  our  theological  seminaries. 
I  have  sometimes  thought  of  attempting  myself  to  supply  this 
deficiency ;  and  have  not  yet  wholly  abandoned  the  thought  ; 
but  am  almost  too  old  for  such  an  undertaking,  even  if  I  were 
otherwise  qualified.  It  is  possible,  if  my  life  and  health  be 
spared  for  a  few  years,  that  I  may  be  able  to  execute  something 
at  least  on  the  important  subject  in  question. 

'My  method  of  proceeding  is  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures 
on  the  subject  of  Church  Government,  referring  as  I  go  along 
to  the  best  books  that  I  can  find,  on  the  following  points: — 
I.  The  Nature  and  Design  of  the  Church.  II.  -The  Head  of 
the  Church.  III.  The  Members  of  the  Church.  IV.  The 
general  jS^ecessity  of  the  Ministry,  as  an  Ordinance  of  Christ. 
V.  Lay  Preaching,  etc.  VI.  The  different  simple  Forms  of 
Church  Government.  (1)  Popery.  (2)  Prelacy.  (3)  Inde- 
pendency. (4)  Presbyterianism — considering  Congregational- 
ism as  not  a  simple  form,  but  as  something  between  the  two 
last.  VII.  Puling  Elders.  VIII.  Deacons.  IX.  Licentiates. 
X.  Discipline:  its  Xature,  Design  and  essential  Principles,  etc. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  course,  I  just  take  our  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment and  Discipline,  and  go  over  its  chapters  in  order,  ex- 
plaining and  commenting  on  each  at  some  length.     *     ^' 

'I  was  greatly  gratified,  my  dear  Sir,  to  find  that  you  ap- 
proved of  Dr.  Hodge's  commentary  on  the  Romans.  I  com- 
municated to  him  your  fraternal  message;  and  I  need  not  say 
that  it  gave  him  much  pleasure.  It  rejoices  my  heart  to  find 
that  the  real  friends  of  truth  are  coming  nearer  together. 
May  they  be  more  and  more  united !  I  really  think,  my  dear 
Brother,  that  nothing  more  is  necessary  to  make  us  entirely 
one,  as  to  all  important  points,  but  more  intercourse. 

'Please  to  give  my  affectionate,  fraternal  regards  to  the  Rev. 
Professor  Nettleton.  I  rejoice  to  hear  that  he  has  gotten  to 
work  at  East  Windsor.  That  his  labors  there  will  be  greatly 
blessed,  as  well  as  approved,  I  cannot  entertain  a  doubt. 

'  I  hope,  some  day,  to  see  East  Windsor,  and  its  venerated 
and  beloved  Professors ;  but  when  that  will  be  I  know  not.' 

In  addition  to  what  the  foregoing  letter  discloses  of  Dr. 
Miller's  course  of  instruction  in  Church  Government,  it 
ought  to  be  said,  that  he  believed  in  the  "divine  right"  of 
Presbyterianism,  though  only  in  the  "low-church"  or 
"evano-elical"  sense.    He  did  not  believe  that  Presbvterian 


1839.]  THE  PROFESSOR.  409 

government  was  essential  to  the  existence  of  a  church. 
That  belief,  as  lieldbj  the  Romanists  and  Romanizing  Episco- 
palians, in  regard  to  their  respective  forms  of  government, 
he,  of  course,  utterly  condemned.  But  he  also  condemned, 
as  loose  and  unwarranted,  the  notion  tliat  Christ  had  left 
no  plan  or  model  of  church  order,  and  tliat  a  mere  human 
and  variable  prudence,  as  to  this  point,  should  be  our  guide. 
The  middle  ground,  therefore,  he  occupied,  maintaining 
that  Presbyterianism,  in  its  great  principles,  was  clearly 
set  forth  in  the  New  Testament,  and  was  essential,  not  in- 
deed to  the  being,  but  to  the  highest  well-being  of  a  church. 
His  arguments  for  this  opinion  were,  in  brief,  firsts  that 
Christ,  being  the  Head  and  Lord  of  the  Church,  and  hav- 
ing established  it  as  a  separate  community,  we  might  safely 
conclude  that  he  had  not  left  it  without  a  form  of  irovern- 
ment ;  secondly^  that  the  forms  of  government  and  dis- 
cipline used  in  the  Jewish  synagogue  were  evidently  trans- 
ferred by  the  Apostles  to  all  the  churches  which  they  or- 
ganized, and  were  thus  clearly  designated  as  the  proper 
abiding  forms  for  the  whole  Church  of  Christ;  and,  tliirdly^ 
that  various  pass'ages  in  the  New  Testament — such,  for  ex- 
ample, as  Matthew  xviii.  15-20  ;  1  Corinthians  xii.  28  ; 
2  Corinthians  x.  8 — indicated  a  divine  authority,  as  distin- 
guished from  mere  human  prudence,  for  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment adopted  by  the  Apostles,  the  form  which  they  most 
significantly  established  everywhere,  as  suited  to  all  cir- 
cumstances. 

On  the  Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons,  Dr.  Miller 
delivered  a  course  of  lectures,  and  he  also  superintended 
the  experimental  "preaching"  of  the  First,  or  highest  Class, 
once  a  week  ;  besides  taking  his  turn  to  preside,  on  Friday 
evening,  weekly,  in  the  Theological  Society,  an  association 
among  the  students  for  theological  debate.  In  regard  to 
the  preaching  exercises,  particularly,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Leroy 
J.  Halsey,  before  quoted  under  another  head,  says, 

"There  was  one  department  of  instruction  in  which  Dr. 
Miller  greatly  excelled  as  a  IVofessor.  For  many  years,  he 
had  exclusive  charge,  in  the  Seminary,  of  the  exercises  belong- 
ing to  the  composition  and  delivery  of  sermons.  He  was  him- 
self a  masterly  homilist :  no  man  understood  better  the  true  art 
of  sermonizing.     xVs  a  critic,  he  was  acute,  skillful,  and  faith- 

YoL.  JI.— 32 


410  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.       [CH.  38.  2. 

ful  to  the  last  degree  in  detecting  everything  like  an  error  or  a 
blemish;  and  yet  his  keenest  criticisms  were  given  with  all  the 
gentle  kindness  of  a  father.  Full  of  interesting  and  appro- 
priate illustrations  and  anecdotes,  drawn  from  his  extended 
reading,  and  his  wide  range  of  observation  and  experience,  he 
was  accustomed  to  enrich  and  enliven  his  critical  remarks,  on 
these  occasions,  from  this  fund,  in  a  manner  which  rendered  the 
service  to  the  students  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  profitable 
in  the  whole  seminary  curriculum.  In  presiding  on  these  occa- 
sions, with  consummate  skill  drawing  the  balance  between  the 
merits  and  the  defects  of  each  performance,  tempering  to  each 
speaker  the  w^ord  of  condemnation  with  the  word  of  encourage- 
ment, repressing  the  forward,  bringing  forward  the  timid,  polish- 
ing the  rough  edges  of  self-confident  ignorance,  and  eliciting 
the  latent  excellencies  of  the  modest  and  retiring ;  interspersing 
his  remark  with  apt  incidents  recited  in  his  vivacious  and  in- 
imitable manner,  he  was  the  perfection  of  dignity,  benignity, 
and  grace.  He  blended  in  equal  proportions  the  wisdom  and 
authority  of  the  instructor,  with  the  wit  and  genial  freedom  of 
the  friend.  In  nothing  perhaps  did  he  more  surely  and  deeply 
impress  his  own  genial  spirit,  and  his  fine  scholarly  taste,  upon 
the  successive  classes  of  students  under  his  care,  and  through 
them  upon  the  whole  ministry  of  the  church,  than  in  these  in- 
formal and  delightful  homiletical  critiques  of  the  Oratory. 
Had  he  seen  fit  to  preserve  and  collect  into  a  volume  the  sub- 
stance of  these  off'-hand  lectures,  with  his  illustrative  incidents 
and  anecdotes  of  distinguished  ministers,  he  might  have  pro- 
duced a  practical  work  on  Homiletics,  as  unique  in  its  charac- 
ter, and  as  interesting  and  instructive  as  his  well-known  work 
on  "  Clerical  Manners."  '  ^ 

Dr.  Miller  often  took  one  or  more  of  his  sons  with  him 
to  the  Seminary  "Conference,"  held  every  Sabbath  after- 
noon. To  the  interestino;  nature  of  this  exercise,  as  con- 
ducted  in  those  days,  the  graduates  of  the  institution  have 
often  borne  witness;  and  that  mere  children  should  attend, 
Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  of  their  own  accord — for  it  was 
never  required  of  them — upon  such  a  service,  was  perhaps 
a  strong  testimony  to  the  same  effect.  The  exercise  con- 
sisted in  a  familiar  discussion,  first  by  the  students,  then  by 
the  professors,  of  some  practical  religious  subject,  which 
commonly  had  been  announced  upon  the  previous  Sabbath, 
and  had  been  selected,  often,  from  among  a  number  sug- 
gested by  the  students  themselves. 

1  Great  Preachers  and  Pastors— N.  V^est  Presb.  of  22  Aug.,  1838. 


1839.]  reminiscences  of  tupils.  411 

3.    Reminiscences  of  Pupils. 

Dr.  Sprague's  recollections  of  Dr.  Miller  have  been  given 
in  previous  pages ;  the  latter  never  had  a  more  kindly  ap- 
preciative pupil ;  but  many,  Avho  had  received  instruction 
from  his^  lips,  have  been  prompt  to  record,  casually,  or 
in  compliance  with  a  special  request,  the  impressions  which 
he  made  upon  their  minds  and  hearts.  In  other  connec- 
tions, some  of  these  testimonies  of  respect  and  affection 
have  already  found,  or  will  hereafter  find,  their  a})propriate 
places  in  this  work.  Some  of  them  we  will  here  throw  to- 
gether, as  fitted  to  the  present  design.  Dr.  S.  Irenajus 
Prime  kindly  furnished  the  first  of  these. 

'The  first  time  that  I  read  an  essay  in  the  hearing  of  Dr.^Iil- 
ler,  in  the  recitation  room,  and  it  was  but  a  few  days  only  after 
the  opening  of  my  first  term  in  the  Seminary,  he*  said  to  nie 
when  his  own  criticisms  and  those  of  the  class  were  finished. 
"Please  to  remain  a  moment  after  the  class  retires."  I  sup- 
posed that  he  had  some  remarks  to  make  of  so  severe  a  r-harac- 
ter  that  he  preferred  to  save  my  feelings  by  making  them  in 
private.  I  remained  with  some  fear  and  trembling,  and  when 
we  were  alone  he  said  with  the  blandness  of  a  gentleman  and 
the  tenderness  of  a  father,  "  AVill  you  be  so  good  as  to  come  and 
take  tea  with  me  this  evening?  I  wish  you  to  become  acquainted 
with  my  family." 

'The  evening  was  delightfully  spent.  His  afiability  to  me  a 
boy,  not  yet  of  age,  his  great  kindliness  of  manner,  his  dismity 
and  grace,  his  wonderful  knowledge  of  men  and  of  the  Church 
impressed  me  deeply.  Before  I  left  his  house,  he  led  me  into 
his  study,  where  was  the  largest  theological  library  I  had  ever 
seen  in  a  private  study,  and  he  said;  "Tliis  is  my  library: 
Avhile  you  are  in  the  Seminary  it  is  entirely  at  your  service; 
take  books  to  your  room  and  use  them  as  long  as  you  please." 

'And  this  kindness,  so  considerate  and  unexpected,  he  con- 
tinued to  show  me,  while  I  remained  in  the  Seminary.  And 
while  others  will  speak  of  his  great  learning  in  the  department 
over  which  he  presided,  and  the  splendid  ability  with  whi<-h 
he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  professorshij),  and  yet  otheiN 
will  dwell  upon  those  personal  accomplishments  which  made 
him  the  Chesterfield  of  the  clergy,  and  more  than  tliis  the 
model  of  a  Christian  gentleman,  I  love  to  remL'inl)cr  him  as 
the  father  and  friend  of  the  students,  each  one  of  whom  he  re- 
garded as  a  son. 

'Would  to  God  that  in  each  of  our  Theological  Seminaries 


412  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.       [CH.  38.  3. 

there  were  one  Dr.  Samuel  Miller ! — a  living  example  of  what 
a  Christian  minister  should  be,  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  at 
home  and  among  the  people.' 

The  Rev'd  Joseph  W.  Bljthe,  before  mentioned,  thus 
writes : — 

*  My  recollections  of  your  honored  father  are  very  distinct — 
from  the  first  day  on  which  I  called  at  his  study,  as  I  was  about 
to  enter  the  Seminary,  to  the  last  time  I  saw  him,  a  few  weeks 
before  his  death.  His  manner  to  the  students  of  the  Seminary, 
and  his  deep,  abiding  interest  in  their  welfare — especially  his 
earnest  desire  for  their  spiritual  welfare — have  so  often  been 
described,  that  I  need  only  bear  my  testimony  with  that  of 
others.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying,  that  my  conviction 
has  always  been,  that  from  no  other  one  source  did  I  receive 
so  many  impressions  for  good,  which  were  of  an  abiding 
character,  as  I  did  from  your  revered  father.  I  felt  for  him  a 
mingled  awe  and  affection  which  I  never  felt  for  any  other  per- 
son no  more  nearly  connected  with  me.  And  this  feeling  never 
left  me,  although  I  was  associated  with  him  as  a  co-j^resbyter 
for  fifteen  years.' 

The  Rev.  William  Huntting  writes  of  Dr.  Miller, 

'Calling  at  his  study  one  morning  on  business,  when  it  was 
dispatched,  it  proved  to  be  near  the  hour  for  his  lecture,  and 
he  invited  me  to  wait  and  walk  with  him  to  the  Seminary. 
After  he  had  arranged  his  dress  and  taken  his  well  known  cane, 
we  started.  In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  front  yard,  he  had 
a  man  clearing  up  and  putting  in  order  a  portion  of  the  grounds. 
We  went  that  way,  and  Dr.  Miller,  after  inspecting  and  di- 
recting a  little,  brought  the  workman  into  an  attitude  of  atten- 
tion, and  said  to  him,  "  Old  Mr. used  to  say,  there  were  three 

things  he  wished  always  to  avoid,  debt,  and  dirt  and  sinf^  and 
immediately  led  off  to  other  topics.  This  epigram  I  understood 
to  be  more  intended  for  the  theologue,  than  for  the  man  of  the 
spade.  Its  point  was,  "  In  your  ministry,  young  man,  be  on 
the  alert  to  say  something  valuable  on  the  most  transient  oc- 
casions ; "  and,  practically,  it  has  served  me  a  better  purpose 
than  some  entire  lectures  in  the  Oratory.' 

The  Rev.  A.  W.  Loomis,  at  first  a  missionary  in  China, 
and  since  of  the  Chinese  Mission,  San  Francisco,  thus  gives 
his  reminiscences  of  Dr.  Miller : — 

'The  reference  which  you  make  to  our  seminary  life  brings 
up  those  pleasant  scenes  to  memory  :  they  are  years  in  my  short 
history  which  I  love  to  recall.'     Your  memoir  will  revive  '  in 


1839.]  REMINISCENCES    OF    PUPILS.  413 

US  the  influence  of  that  life  which  was  so  level v,  and  so  well 
Avorthy  for  all  to  take  as  a  pattern. 

'  I  know  not  how  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  privileges 
of  that  honored  school  while  your  lather  was  yet  living.  =^  '■■' 
not  only  because  of  the  marvellous  fund  of  knowledge  which 
during  a  long  life  he  had  been  industriously  gathering,  and  of 
which  he  imparted  something  useful  and  appropriate"  with 
every  opening  of  the  mouth ; "  but  his  character,  his  manners, 
his  whole  life,  were  of  themselves  instructors,  the  influence  of 
which  cannot  be  estimated. 

'  We  knew  that  our  teacher  felt  a  deep  and  tender  interest 
in  us,  for  how  cordial  always  was  his  greeting,  and  how  aflec- 
tionately  did  he  inquire  after  those  who  had  been  students  in 
the  Seminary,  and  whom  he  supposed  we  might  have  seen. 

'But  his  heart  was  not  all  bound  up  in  the  Seminary;  he 
had  kind  words  for  every  one  whom  he  met.  In  our  long 
strolls,  it  was  not  uncommon  to  see  your  father  stopi)ing  in  his 
walk  for  exercise  and  recreation,  and  holding  a  conversation 
over  a  garden  fence  with  one  or  another  of  the  citizens  of  the 
town.  Occasionally  we  enjoyed  a  few  minutes  in  his  com}»any 
in  the  walk  from  the  Seminary  to  his  gate;  and  always,  at  such 
times,  we  learned  from  him  something  new,  something  of  use 
to  one  preparing  for  the  ministry.  How  often,  in  those  days, 
did  I  say  to  myself,  "If  these  brief  opportunities  are  so  profita- 
ble, how  must  those  be  favored  who  daily  sit  with  him  at  his 
table,  and  may  enjoy  his  conversation,  and  ask  him  all  the 
questions  they  desire,  during  the  seasons  of  his  rest  from  study. 
'^  "^^  I  used  to  say,  (and  without  extravagance  I  still  believe,) 
like  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  "Happy  are  thy  men,  happy  are 
these  thy  servants,  which  stand  continually  before  thee,  and 
hear  thy  wisdom." 

*0h,  how  I  wish  it  were  possible  for  a  memoir  to  present  to 
the  world  our  beloved  preceptor  as  he  was,  so  that  others  might 
learn  from  him,  and  be  influenced  by  his  life  and  manners! 
But  that  is  a  task  beyond  the  power  of  pen  or  pencil:  only 
those  that  knew  him  can  carry  the  impression  formed  by  those 
words,  that  voice,  that  countenance  beaming  with  intelligence, 
benevolence  and  devotion ;  and  that  daily  life  which  to  us 
seemed  so  pure  and  lovely:  these  we  hold  em])almed  in  our 
memory.  Well  do  we  remember,  but  no  one  can  (h'scribe, 
that  uniform  cheerfulness,  with  a  becoming  seriousness;  that 
perfect  propriety  in  every  act;  the  awe  which  came  over  each 
heart,  when  he  said,  "Let  us  look  to  God!,"  and  led  us  in 
prayer. 

'It  would  be  impossible  for  any  student  to  be  long  under  his 


41-i  PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS.       [CH.  38.  3. 

instructions,  or  to  witness  his  deportment  in  the  lecture-room, 
the  Sabbath  afternoon  Conference,  or  in  the  j)lace  of  public 
worship,  and  not  learn  from  him,.how  "  to  do  everything  de- 
cently and  in  order." 

'It  was  not  often  that  I  called  at  your  father's  study,  know- 
ing how  precious  were  the  hours  to  him ;  but,  whenever  I  did 
visit  him,  so  honest  and  earnest  was  his  welcome,  that  all  ap- 
prehension of  being  an  intruder  was  dissipated,  and  I  felt  like 
a  son  with  his  father.  Almost  always  these  little  interviews 
were  closed  with  prayer. 

'My  last  visit  was  one  peculiarly  precious.  The  lively  in- 
terest expressed  in  our  mission,  the  counsels,  the  prayer,  the 
affectionate  wishes,  and  the  blessing,  followed  me  to  China,  have 
accompanied  me  wherever  I  have  gone,  dwell  in  my  heart  still, 
and  can  never  leave  me.  Amongst  my  precious  things  I  cher- 
ish a  book  which  he  then  gave  me.  It  was  the  Life  of  Brai- 
nerd,  a  large  and  ancient  copy,  which  he  took  from  its  shelf, 
wrote  in  it  his  name  and  mine,  and  presented  it  w^ith  his  bene- 
diction. That  was  our  last  interview ;  but  if,  by  and  by,  I 
may  be  admitted  to  that  company  in  which  are  such  as  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  the  prophets  and  apostles,  I 
shall  see  him  again. 

'May  your  mind,  your  heart,  and  your  pen  be  directed  in 
this  work,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  delineate  well  a  charac- 
ter which  was  so  perfect  and  so  worthy  of  being  embalmed — a 
life  so  useful  and  honored.  May  future  generations  know  him, 
that  they  may  imitate  his  virtues.' 

The  following  is  from  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  F.  de  W. 
AVard,  D.D. 

'  Tliirty  years  and  more  have  fled  away,  yet  my  first  visit  to 
his  study  is  as  if  of  yesterday  for  the  place  it  has  in  my  memo- 
ry. That  cordial  grasp  of  the  hand ;  that  warm  welcome  to  the 
"  School  of  the  Prophets  ;  "  that  kind  offer  of  assistance  in  my 
studies;  that  invitation  to  call  when  I  needed  his  aid  or  advice  ; 
and  then  the  prayer;  for  he  would  scarcely  ever  let  me  leave 
him  without  a  few  words  of  blessing; — my  memory  retains  the 
whole  in  lines  not  to  be  erased  by  time.  *  *  I  was  about 
to  depart  far  hence  to  the  Gentiles.  It  was  my  last  call  and 
equally  memorable  with  the  first.  How  judicious  his  advice; 
how  encouraging  his  utterance ;  how  loving  his  spirit ;  how  fer- 
vent his  piety !  Upon  my  rising  to  depart — "  I  must  pray  with 
you  once  more,"  he  said.  Yes,  and  such  a  prayer — so  full  of 
unction,  appropriateness,  and  feeling!  He  blessed  me,  and  I 
withdrew  in  tears,  thanking  him  for  all  he  had  been  to  me,  and 


1839.]  REMINISCENCES    OF    PUPILS.  415 

in  ray  heart  thanking  God  for  allowing  mc  to  sit  at  the  feet  of 
such  a  teacher.  Such  was  Dr.  Miller  to  me,  and  such  to  hun- 
dreds, who  can  bear  the  like  testimony.' 

At  the  first  interview  mentioned  by  Dr.  AVard,  he  re- 
ceived from  Dr.  Miller  two  practical  counsels  in  regard  to 
one  part  of  his  preparation  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel. 
^ Firsts'  said  the  latter  in  substance,  ^always  have  a  sermon 
upon  the  anvil.  The  first  you  write  will  seem  to  yourself 
very  meagre  and  defective.  Never  mind  that.  Do  not  be 
discouraged.  Practice  makes  perfect.  Lay  this  one  aside 
and  try  again.  Thus  go  on.  Keep  all  you  write,  for  you 
■will  find  a  satisfaction  in  comparing  the  earlier  ones  with 
what  you  produce  in  after  years.  Secondly^  Let  your  pa- 
per be  of  medium  size,  of  strong  texture  and  white.  Use 
black  ink,  and  write  Avith  a  bold,  large  hand.  You  may 
not  see  the  need  of  all  this  now^  but  you  will  by  and  by.' 

Dr.  Ward  also  mentioned  Dr.  Miller's  having  once  said 
to  him,  that  the  first  cold  zd^ort?  had  never  passed  between 
himself  and  one  of  his  colleagues  in  the  Seminary. 

The  Rev.  iVbraham  DeWitt,  writes, 

'  One  interview  with  Dr.  Miller  I  feel  disposed  to  mention.  It 
was  in  his  own  study,  after  I  had  finished  the  full  course  in  the 
Seminary,  and  just  previous  to  my  starting  for  the  first  field  of 
my  ministerial  labors.  He  inquired  whether  this  was  our 
last  interview.  I  replied  that  it  was.  "  Then,"  said  he,  "  we 
must  have  a  prayer  together."  We  bowed  our  knees,  and  from 
the  fulness  of  his  heart  he  poured  forth  such  petitions  as  I  can 
never  forget,  that  God  would  guard,  guide  and  bless  me  per- 
sonally, and  make  my  ministry  useful  and  successful  in  winning 
souls  to  Christ.  It  seemed  to  me  like  the  bles.--iug  of  a  patri- 
arch.' 

Another  pupil  writes, 

'Many  of  the  best  impressions  and  most  blessed  memories  of 
my  life  are  connected  with  Dr.  Miller.  Amid  the  bitterness 
and  corruption  of  the  world,  I  often  thank  God  that  my  eyes 
have  been  permitted  to  see  such  a  noble  christian  gentleman,^ 
and  such  an  example  of  sanctified  mortality.  At  the  close  of 
ray  course  in  Princeton  Seminary,  I  went  to  bid  him  farewell. 
He  received  me  very  cordially,  afterwards  requested  me  to 
kneel  by  his  side,  and  prayed  for  rae  with  much  earnestness. 
AVhen  we  arose,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  said,  "  I  have 
but  two  things  now  to  say  to  you,  ray  dear  brother.  The  lirst 
is,  keep  near  to  the  mercy  seat :  there  all  your  strength  lies. 


416  professio:nal  characteeistics.    [cii.  38.  3. 

The  other  is,  take  care  of  the  children  of  your  charge :  they 
are  the  hope  of  the  Church."  These  parting  words  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  my  mind,  and  often  as  I  look  upon  his 
likeness,  which  hangs  above  my  study  table,  I  seem  to  hear 
him  repeating  the  solemn  admonition.' 

Another  pupil  writes,*!  cherish  his  memory  with  undying 
affection.  He  was  eminently  wise  and  indefatigable  in  his 
counsels  and  labors  for  the  good  of  the  young  men  who  were 
under  his  care.  I  often  think  of  him  as  a  model  christian 
gentleman.'  Another,  *  I  remember  him  with  the  profoundest 
affection  and  veneration.'  He  'was  a  scholar,  a  gentleman, 
and  a  christian,  in  the  highest  meaning  of  the  terms.'  Another, 
'  One  of  the  best  and  most  scholarly  men  of  his  generation,  Dr. 
Miller  was  a  model  christian  gentleman  of  the  old  and  best 
school.  Kind,  considerate,  polite  and  conscientious  in  all  his 
works,  and  all  his  intercourse  with  men,  he  never  wantonly  and 
willfully  wounded  even  an  adversary.  A  voluminous  writer, 
he  had  justly  won  the  title  of  "  the  American  Addison,"  for  the 
purity  and  lucidness  of  his  style ;  while  he  enriched  his  pages 
with  lore  gathered  from  vast  reading,  and  a  well  stored  and 
retentive  memory.  I  venerated  him  as  a  father ;  I  loved  him 
as  a  preceptor ;  I  admired  him  as  a  preacher,  a  presbyter,  and 
a  gentleman ;  and  I  mourn  him  as  one  beloved  and  lost  to  the 
Church  on  earth.  His  memory  is  lovely  and  fragrant.'  Aiiother, 
*I  consider  it  one  of  the  great  privileges  of  my  life  that  I 
made  his  acquaintance.  He  is  one  of  the  few  men  I  have  known 
for  whom  my  esteem  and  reverence  increase  with  the  lapse  of 
time.  The  late  Dr.  A.  Alexander,  Dr.  Chalmers,  of  Edinburgh, 
and  your  father  are  the  three  great  names  in  my  memory.  The 
world  has  known  few  such  men.  I  need  not  repeat  what  has 
been  so  often  said,  and  is  universally  admitted  by  all  that  I 
have  ever  heard  speak  of  him — that  he  was  the  most  perfect 
model  of  a  christian  gentleman  that  I  have  ever  known.  For 
his  learning,  scholarship,  devotion  to  the  cause  of  literature 
and  religion,  and  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  well  as  for  his 
piety,  he  deserves  to  be  held,  as  doubtless  he  will  be,  in  the 
highest  esteem.' 

Dr.  Miller,  like  most  others,  had  some  stereotyped  forms 
of  speech.  As  he  rode  or  drove  up  to  his  gate,  a  passing 
acquaintance,  often  a  Seminary  student,  would  not  un- 
frequently  prevent  his  alighting,  by  kindly  stepping  for- 
ward to  open  it.     '  Thank  you,  thank  you,  Mr. :  I 

wish  you  a  better  office  I'  was  the  ordinary  recognition  of 
the  favour. 


CHAPTER    TIIIPtTY-NINTlI. 

OLD    AGE. 

1839-1844. 


1.     Christian  Education. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1838  established  "  The  Board 
of  Publication  of  Tracts  and  Sabbath  School  Books  of  tlie 
General  Assembly  in  the  United  States  of  America,"  wliich 
received  a  transfer,  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  of  the 
property  and  business  of  "  The  Presbyterian  Tract  and 
Sabbath  School  Book  Society,"  and  by  the  Assembly  of 
1839  had  its  name  changed  to  "  The  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Publication."  The  latter  Assembly,  the  fiftieth  year 
now  having  been  completed  since  this  supreme  judicatory 
of  the  Church,  taking  the  place  of  the  old  Synod,  had  been 
first  organized,  recommended  the  second  Sabbath  of  De- 
cember for  a  semi-centenary  celebration — a  day  of  Jul)ilee 
thanksgiving  for  past  mercies ;  and  the  offering  upon  that 
day,  by  all  the  members  of  the  Church,  of  gifts  for  tlie 
endowment  of  the  new  Board  of  Publication.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Miller  took  a  lively  and  active  interest  in  this  cele- 
bration :  it  fell  in  exactly  with  their  views  of  the  great  im- 
portance of  Christian  education  in  the  Sabbath-school  and 
elsewhere.  The  endowment  fund  reached  the  sum  of  forty 
thousand  dollars. 

To  the  Repertory  for  this  year,  Dr.  Miller  contributed 
a  review  of  Dr.  Griffin's  Sermons.  The  latter,  in  1832, 
he  says, 

" addressed  a  letter  to  the   Rev.  Dr.  Taylor,  of  New 

Haven,  begging  him  to  explain  more  fully  the  peculiarities  of 
the  system  commonly  called  by  his  name;  at  the  same  time 
apprising  him  that  the  information  was  sought  for  the  })urpose 
of  making  a  public  use  of  it,  if  such  use  should  be  called  for 

or  desirable. 

417 


418  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  1. 

"  Dr.  Sprague  has  given  us,  at  large,  Dr.  Taylor's  rej^ly ; 
which,  though  the  publication  of  it  was  interdicted  at  the  time 
of  its  date,  has  now  been  committed  to  the  press  by  the  writer's 
permission.  It  is  just  such  a  reply  as  we  should  expact  to  find 
from  the  pen  of  a  man  who  was  conscious  of  holding  opinions 
which  he  was  unwilling  explicitly  to  avow,  and  who  was  con- 
stantly endeavoring  to  hoodwink  or  amuse,  by  suggesting  that 
he  was  not  understood  ;  or  that  he  could  not  then  take  the  time, 
or  enter  into  sufficient  detail,  to  explain.  This  was  not  the 
manner  in  which  the  venerable  men  who  compiled  our  public 
standards,  or  the  excellent  divines  who,  since  their  time, 
adorned  and  blessed  the  church  in  our  own  country,  treated 
similar  interrogatories.  They  were  always  able  and  ready  to 
make  themselves  understood.  Concealment  or  equivocation 
made  no  part  of  their  policy.  AVe  have  been  more  and  more 
convinced,  by  every  attempt  which  the  divines  of  the  school  in 
question  have  made  to  defend  their  system,  that,  in  its  leading 
features,  it  is  essentially  Pelagian ;  that  it  is  incapable  of  scrip- 
tural defence;  and  that  the  more  carefully  its  practical  influ- 
ence is  examined  and  marked,  the  more  clearly  it  will  be  seen 
to  subvert  the  gospel,  and  to  destroy  the  interests  of  vital  piety. 
The  contest  with  this  system  is  so  far  from  being  a  mere  verbal 
one,  that  we  consider  it  as  entering  essentially  into  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  holy  religion  ;  and  are  persuaded  that, 
so  far  as  it  bears  sway,  the  great  doctrine  of  regeneration,  in 
its  genuine  Bible  character,  must  be  abandoned."^ 

The  General  Assembly  of  1839  had  appointed  the  Rev. 
Drs.  S.  Miller,  A.  Alexander,  C.  Hodge,  J.  A.  Alexander, 
and  J.  Carnahan,  all  of  Princeton,  a  Committee  to  recom- 
mend measures  for  securinor  a  more  thorough  Christian 
training  for  the  children  and  youth  of  the  Church.  Dr. 
Miller  prepared  the  report  of  this  Committee,  and  pre- 
sented it  to  the  Assembly  at  their  sessions  in  1840.  By  a 
unanimous  resohition,  it  was  referred  to  the  Board  of 
Publication,  which  issued  it  in  a  small  volume.^ 

There  was  no  subject  in  which  Dr.  Miller  took  a  deeper 
interest  than  that  of  Christian  education.  His  own  asso- 
ciations, all  through  life,  had  constantly  served  to  deepen 
this  interest ;  and  Mrs.  Miller's  enthusiasm  on  the  subject 
had  been,  especially,  a  potent  means  of  stirring  him  up  to 

i  10  Biblical  Repertory,  411,  412. 

2 "The  Christian  Education  of  the  Children  and  Youth  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  By  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.  Philadelphia:  1840."— 24mo, 
l>p.  GG. 


1840.]  CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  41P 


labor,  with  his  pen  and  otherwise,  to  promote  tlic  training 
of  chiklren  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 
She  had  assisted,  as  early  as  1810,  in  forming  "  The 
Female  Benevolent  Society  of  Princeton,"  designed  to  re 
lieve  the  poor  generally,  in  particular  the  sick  poor ;  but 
also  to  educate  indigent  children.  Tliesc  were  sent,  at 
first,  to  a  private  day-school  in  the  village;  but,  in  1825, 
the  Society  opened  a  school  of  its  own,  in  which  free  in- 
struction might  be  given  to  the  poor;  and,  in  1828,  set 
about  the  erection  of  a  building  for  its  accommodation. 
This  school  is  still  continued  :  for  more  than  forty  years  it 
has  been  steadily  accomplishing  a  most  important  work  of 
Christian  charity.  Mrs.  Miller,  while  she  lived,  was  its 
chief  manager,  visiting  it  herself  very  frequently,  and 
sometimes  sending  her  children,  by  turns,  to  assist  the 
teacher  in  her  labors.  Of  the  Benevolent  Society  she  was 
long  the  President.  She  was  greatly  interested,  also,  in 
the  establishment  of  The  Mount  Lucas  Orphan  and  Guar- 
dian Institute,  near  Princeton,  and  was  instrumental  in 
securing  for  it  a  considerable  endowment,  which  was  so 
managed,  that  when  the  Institute  was  at  length  of  necessity 
abandoned,  she  was  able  to  transfer  a  large  fund,  with  the 
consent  of  all  concerned,  to  the  Ashmun  Institute,  since  Lin- 
coln University,  in  Pennsylvania,  for  the  Christian  training 
of  young  coloured  men.  Before  the  establishment  of  the 
Society's  School,  she  had  received  a  number  of  coloured  chil- 
dren into  her  own  house  for  daily  instruction  ;  and,  in  after 
years,  she  took  a  very  lively  interest  and  active  part  in  a 
coloured  Sabbath-school,  held  in  the  village.  For  a  long 
time,  too,  she  maintained  a  small  white  Sabbath-school  at 
home,  formed  from  a  few  neighbours'  families. 

Mrs.  Miller  was  particularly  sanguine  in  hoping  for  good 
results  from  a  thoroughly  Christian  training  commenced 
with  children  of  a  very  early  age.  Her,  convictions  on  this 
subject  were  exceedingly  deep  and  most  firmly  settled  :  of 
older  children,  hardened  by  neglect  and  contact  with  the 
world,  she  had  comparatively  little — perhaps  too  little — 
hope.  She  very  frequently  urged  upon  her  acquaintances, 
some  of  them  missionaries  in  foreign  lands,  and  particu- 
larly upon  those  interested  in  public  educational  efforts, 
that  they  should  bestow  their  first  efforts  upon  the  very 
young — those  just  rising  above  mere  infancy. 


420  OLD   AGE.  [CH.  39.  1. 

In  October,  1840,  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  met  in 
Wilkesbarre,  Pennsylvania.  Railroad  facilities  were  not 
then  so  generally  distributed  as  they  are  at  present.  Nearly 
thirty  years,  since  elapsed,  have  produced  an  astonishing 
change  in  this  respect.  The  distant  members  of  Synod 
reached  the  place  of  meeting  by  long  drives,  in  private 
conveyances,  over  mountain  and  valley ;  and  survivors,  to 
this  day,  talk  Avith  special  interest,  of  the  adventures  of 
their  journey — particularly  some  of  Dr.  Miller's  companions 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.  He  and  his  party, 
of  which  Mr.^.  Miller  was  one,  at  a  point  in  their  route, 
were  turned  back  and  delayed  by  a  tree  which  had  fallen 
across  the  road.  Then  they  were  compelled  to  stop  at  a 
smithy,  to  have  two  or  more  of  the  horses  re-shod  ;  and 
here  a  reverend  doctor  of  divinity,  to  the  great  diversion  of 
his  brethren,  doffed  his  black  coat,  donned  a  spare  black- 
smith's apron,  and  proved  it  to  be  no  idle  boast,  that  he 
could  shoe  a  horse  as  well  as  any  man.  This  meeting  of 
Synod  was  long  remembered  with  special  interest  by  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Miller,  on  account  of  a  report  which  he  had  pre- 
sented, and  an  animated  discussion  which  had  taken  place, 
on  the  subject  of  Christian  education.  No  doubt  his  pre- 
vious report,  on  the  same  subject,  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, had  served  to  introduce  the  matter  to  the  Synod's 
attention. 

Mrs.  Miller  was,  for  a  number  of  years,  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  a  Maternal  Association  in  Princeton,  the  members 
of  which  met  frequently  to  unite  in  prayer  for  their  chil- 
dren, and  to  stir  each  other  up  to  greater  parental  fidelity. 

To  give  a  thorough  christian  education  to  their  own 
children  was  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller's  constant  and  untiring 
endeavour.  That  their  sons  and  daughters  might  be  de- 
voted followers  of  Christ,  and  the  former  devoted  ministers, 
were  their  highest  desire  and  prayer  for  them.  Religion 
was  to  be  the  basis  of  the  whole  training,  and  the  higher  the 
superstructure  on  this  foundation,  the  better.  Dr.  Miller 
recognized,  constantly,  the  truth,  that  his  family  demanded 
a  large  share  of  his  time  and  attention  ;  and,  in  the  great- 
est hurry  of  business  and  study,  he  always  found  oppor- 
tunity to  provide  for  their  comfort,  enjoyment  and  profit. 
The  question  of  their  pleasure  and  improvement  entered 


1840.]  CHRISTIAN    EDUCATION.  421 

essentially  into  all  his  plans — was  secontlary  to  no  other 
question,  unless  that  of  keeping  liis  own  heart.  For  any 
suggestion  that  concerned  the  advantage  of  his  cliihlren  he 
■was  always  ready.  Mrs.  Miller  once  queried  whether  some 
of  the  lectures  which  he  was  delivering  in  the  Seminary 
might  not  be  useful  to  his  own  family  ;  and  this  led,  the 
following  winter,  to  his  assembling  the  family  several  times 
during  the  week,  for  a  number  of  months,  in  his  study, 
reading  to  them  his  Seminary  prelections  upon  Biblical  and 
Ecclesiastical  History  and  Chronology,  and  examining  the 
older  children  afterwards  upon  them,  and  requiring  them 
often  to  write  out  from  memory  an  outline  of  what  they  had 
heard. 

Says  one  of  his  sons, 

*  Though  perhaps  not  demonstratively  affectionate,  in  his  in- 
tercourse with  his  children,  and  though  inclined  on  ])rinciple, 
and  after  reflection,  to  severity  of  discipline,  and  a  regard  for  the 
maxim  "spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child,"  there  was  sincere 
love  mingled  with  our  respect  for  him.  We  were  proud  of  him, 
glad  when  he  was  with  us,  delighted  when  he  laughed  at  our 
jokes  and  childish  tricks.  He  gave  us  more  confidence  than 
we  deserved,  and  the  full  rights  and  privileges  of  our  years. 
He  was  particularly  annoyed  at  any  evidence  of  want  of  truth, 
or  high  tone,  or  manliness,  and  made  us  feel  the  weight  he  at- 
tached to  these  qualities  in  more  ways  than  one.' 

When  Dr.  Miller  had  committed  the  training  of  any  of 
his  children  to  any  teacher,  or  institution,  and  so  long 
as  he  thouorht  it  right  to  continue  the  relation  thus  es- 
tablished,  he  considered  it  a  plain  duty  to  re(iuire  from  the 
child  implicit  obedience  to  the  instructor,  with  whose  regu- 
lations or  administration  he  was  seldom  at  all  disposed  to 
interfere.  It  may  safely  be  said,  that  he  never  shielded 
one  of  his  children  from  just  chastisement  at  school,  and 
gave  little  countenance  to  complaints  of -the  undue  severity, 
or  mismanagement  in  any  way,  of  those  to  whom  he  had 
entrusted  their  education. 

Dr.  Miller  made  a  college  education  a  sine  qua  non  with 
all  his  sons.  Beyond  that,  he  permitted  each  to  choose 
freely  his  own  pursuit  in  life.  Nothing  could  have  grati6ed 
him  so  much,  as  that  all  of  them  should  have  been  called  of 
God  into  the  Gospel  ministry;  but  whether  any  one  had 
such  a  call,  he  did  not  pretend  to  decide.     While  all  knew 


422  OLD   AGE.  [cii.  89.  1. 

well  that  he  regarded  the  ministry  as  imspeakahlj  the 
noblest  of  human  professions,  each  was  left,  as  to  this  point, 
entirely  to  his  own  will  and  views  of  duty.  Their  father 
recollected,  that  he  himself  had  once  thought  of  being  a 
merchant,  and  had  been  turned,  providentially,  to  a  better 
purpose.  One  of  his  sons  first  tried  mercantile  business, 
but,  after  a  brief  apprenticeship  to  that,  became  a  physician. 
Three  chose  the  bar;  but  the  eldest  of  these  died  when  he 
had  but  just  entered  upon  a  course  of  legal  study  ;  and  the 
next,  after  a  few  years'  practice,  exchanged  the  Bar  for  the 
Pulpit.  The  Ministry  was  the  first  choice  of  the  youngest 
alone. 

Dr.  Miller  did  not  share  at  all  in  the  narrow  prejudices 
which  many  entertained  against  the  legal  profession.  Two 
of  his  own  brothers,  doubtless  with  their  father's  concur- 
rence, had  chosen  that  profession  ;  and,  not  improbably,  it 
would  have  been,  next  to  the  sacred  office,  his  own  more 
mature  preference.  At  any  rate,  he  regarded  it  as  a  noble 
and,  properly,  an  ennobling  pursuit.  Many  a  parent,  under 
a  sense  of  christian  responsibility,  has  said,  "  I  cannot  per- 
mit my  son  to  be  a  lawyer.  There  are,  at  the  Bar,  too  mnny 
temptations  to  knavery,  and  too  many  examples  of  it.  He 
shall  go  into  a  counting  house,  instead  of  an  attorney's 
office."  But  the  simple  truth  is,  that  in  mercantile  life 
there  are  ten  temptations  to  dishonesty,  for  one  found  in 
legal  practice.  And  the  consequences  of  this  difference 
may  readily  be  discerned.  Let  any  one  form  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  a  dozen  young  merchants,  and  the  same 
number  of  young  practitioners  at  the  bar,  both  of  about  the 
average  standing;  and  he  will  soon  discover  that,  whatever 
honorable  exceptions  there  may  be  among  the  former,  the 
higher  standard  of  professional  integrity  certainly  belongs 
to  the  latter.  Young  merchants  will,  often,  in  their  social 
gatherings,  boast  of  their  clever  bargains — their  success  in 
the  ''  tricks  of  trade ;"  but  very  rarely  will  young  lawyers, 
be  found  thus  amusing  each  other.  It  was  formerly  a  com- 
mon saying  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  that  a  man  who 
had  studied  for  the  Bar  rarely  made  a  successful  merchant: 
his  knowledge  of  law  only  cramped  him  in  the  emergencies 
of  a  counting-room.  Let  it  be  remembered,  that  men  who 
have  passed  with  unimpeached  integrity,  and  sterling  honor, 


1840.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  423 

through  all  the  temptations  of  mercantile  life,  deserve  spe- 
cial respect,  for  having  gone  unscathed  througli  a  fiery 
ordeal. 

2.     Correspondence  and  Diary. 

John  T.  Gilchrist,  Esquire,  of  New  Rochelle,  New  York, 
had  written  to  Dr.  Miller,  informing  'him  of  tlie  removal  of 
the  presbjterial  relations  of  the  cliurch  '  at  tliat  place,  'by 
the  session,  or  a  member  of  it,  and  the  minister  who  was 
then  supplying  the  pulpit,  from  its  connexion  with  the 
Bedford  Presbytery,  (Old  School,)  to  the  New  York  Sec- 
ond, (New  School,)  without  any  consultation  with  the 
church,  and  against  the  declared  wishes  of  some  of  tlie 
members,  and  that  they  quoted  his  work  on  the  eldership 
as  authority;'  on  the  2Tth  of  April,  1840,  Dr.  Miller  re- 
plied, 

'  The  construction  put  upon  what  I  say,  in  the  pages  referred 
to  in  my  treatise  on  the  Ruling  Elder,  is  as  unjust  as  it  well 
could  be.  Such  a  mode  of  proceeding  as  this  construction 
points  out,  would  fill  the  Church  with  disorder  and  violence 
throughout  all  its  borders. 

*  I  say,  then,  that,  according  to  my  views  of  church  order,  no 
elder  sitting  in  Synod,  as  the  sole  representative  of  a  church, 
can,  by  his  vote,  or  in  any  other  way,  alter  the  pre.sbyterial  re- 
lations of  that  church.  Nay,  if  the  whole  session  were  present, 
they  could  not  do  it.  The  presbyterial  relations  of  a  church 
cannot  possibly  be  altered,  but  by  a  vote  of  the  members  of  the 
church,  at  a  meeting  called  for  that  purpose,  and  in  virtue  of  a 
public  and  explicit  notice.  I  had  occasion  to  be  present,  eight 
days  ago,  when  a  transfer  of  presbyterial  relation  was  actually 
made  on  the  principle  and  in  the  manner  which  I  have  stated. 
There  is  no  point,  I  apprehend,  better  established.' 

To  Mrs.  Susan  F.  Ledyard,  widow  of  Benjamin  Ledyard, 
Esquire,  and  daughter  of  the  Honorable  Brockholst  Living- 
ston, Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  22d  of  May,  1840,  after  mentioning 
his  having  failed  to  find  her  in  New  York, 

'  Mrs.  Miller  and  myself  had  heard  of  your  purpose  to  visit 
France,  five  or  six  weeks  before  your  letter  arrived ;  and  had 
conversed  repeatedly  with  one  another  on  the  subject.  If  I 
could  tell  vou  all  that  passed  in  those  conversations,  I  am  sure 
it  would  afford  you  new  testimony  of  our  kind  and  respectful 


424  OLD    AGE.  [CH.   39.   2. 

feelings,  and  our  sincere  interest  in  your  temporal  and  eternal 
welfare.  I  had  intended,  in  the  course  of  the  call  above  re- 
ferred to,  to  offer  you  the  affectionate  counsels  and  the  united 
benediction  of  my  dear  comjoanion  and  myself.  But  this  was 
rendered  impossible  by  circumstances. 

'And,  now,  my  dear  Madam,  what  shall  I  say?  Our  sincere 
prayer  is,  that  your  voyage  may  be  a  safe  and  happy  one  ;  that 
you  may  find  your  son  and  his  consort  in  health  and  comfort ; 
and  that  you  may  spend  a  few  months  in  the  great  capital,  in 
which  he  resides,  with  much  gratification,  and  with  rich  profit 
to  your  spiritual  interests.  All  this  I  trust  I  need  not  assure  you  ; 
or,  also,  that  we  shall  often  bear  you  on  our  hearts  before  the 
throne  of  grace,  as  long  as  you  remain  absent  from  your  native 
country,  that  a  blessing  may  rest  upon  this  whole  expedition. 

'You  are  going  to  France — beautiful,  alluring,  splendid, 
irreligious  France.  My  dear  wife  and  I  have  lived  longer  than 
you  ;  but  we  should  almost  tremble  for  ourselves,  if  we  were 
going  into  that  country,  and  especially  into  that  luxurious, 
seductive  city  to  which  you  are  destined.  May  you  be  preserved 
from  every  snare,  and  every  unhallowed  influence,  during  your 
residence  there ;  and  even  find  your  heart  drawn  more  closely 
to  the  Saviour  and  His  service,  by  witnessing  the  splendid  vanity 
and  corruption  of  that  country.  I  have  known  a  few  instances 
of  persons  not  only  remaining  unharmed  in  such  places,  but 
being  driven,  so  to  speak,  to  more  cordial  devotedness  to  God, 
by  seeing  the  fatal  mischiefs  of  irreligion  and  worldly  dis- 
sipation. May  this,  my  dear  Madam,  be  your  experience ;  and 
then  you  will  have  reason  forever  to  rejoice  in  your  visit  to 
France. 

*  But  do  not  feel  confident  that  this  will  be  the  natural  effect 
of  the  scenes  presented  by  the  French  capital.  The  very  reverse 
is  the  only  natural  eftect.  Remember  your  own  weakness. 
Pray,  without  ceasing,  that  you  may  be  endued  with  strength 
from  on  high  for  resisting  temptation,  and  for  walking  unhurt 
through  the  fire.  Remember  that  much,  converse  with  God,  in 
your  Bible  and  your  closet,  can  alone  afford  any  promise,  that 
you  will  not,  by  your  contemplated  visit,  lay  a  foundation  for 
much  regret  and  many  tears,  in  those  serious  hours  whic  i  are 
yet  to  come. 

'When  you  reach  Paris — which  God  grant  you  may  do 
without  any  adverse  occurrence — remember  me  respectfully  to 
your  son,  and  give  him  my  benediction.  And  if,  amidst  the 
whirl  of  that  city,  you  find  time  to  recollect  that  you  have  two 
sincere  friends  in  Princeton,  who  pray  for  you  ;  and  to  drop 
them  a  line,  telling  them  how  you  and  yours  are,  and  how 


1840.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  425 

Parisian  scenes  appear  in  your  eyes,  you  will  gratify  us.     I^fy 
dear  wife  unites  with  me  in  good  wishes  and  benedictions. 
*I  am,  my  dear  Madam, 

'Your  sincere  friend, 
*Mrs.  Susan  F.  Ledyard.  Samuel  Miller.' 

We  have  already  seen  that  as  early  as  the  year  1804, 
Dr.  Miller  undertook  to  prepare  a  sketch  of  his  deeply 
venerated  preceptor,  Dr.  Nisbet,  to  be  prefixed  to  an  edi- 
tion of  his  lectures.  The  latter,  for  some  reason,  were  never 
published,  and  the  materials  for  the  sketch  remained  un- 
used, until  in  1840,  Dr.  Miller  committed  to  the  press  a 
memoir^  of  that  learned  but  eccentric  clergyman. 

His  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Sergeant,  one  of  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  wrote  to  bim^  on 
the  17th  of  November,  1840,  upon  receiving  a  copy  of  the 
work, 

*  On  my  return  from  Pittsburgh,  I  found  on  my  table  your 
Memoir  of  Dr.  Nisbet,  which  I  have  since  read  with  much 
pleasure  and  satisfaction,  as  it  gave  me  a  very  distinct  idea  of  a 
man,  whom  I  had  frequently  heard  referred  to  without  being 
able  to  know  exactly  why.  The  style  is  easy  and  perspicuous, 
and  the  subject  treated  in  a  very  agreeable  manner.  It  made 
me  lecollect,  that  the  best  biographies  we  have — Plutarch  and 
Johnson — were  the  works  of  a  late  period  of  life,  when,  perhaps, 
judgment,  imagination,  and  facility  of  composition,  the  result 
of  practice,  combine  to  cast  a  mellow  hue  over  the  composition. 
*  *  How  could  [Dr.  Rush]  *  *  beguile  the  old  scholar 
into  obscurity,  poverty,  and  misery?  *  *  Permit  me  now  to 
say,  that  I  think  yon  stop  the  current  of  the  story,  by  putting 
those  discourses  of  his  in  the  beginning  of  the  book  :  they  seem 
a  sort  of  barrier  to  one's  progress ;  and  perhaps  ought  to  be  in 
the  appendix.  However  the  work  is  too  agreeable  to  find  fault 
with,  and  it  is  the  one  of  your  w^orks  which  will  live  in  the 
literary  world.'' 

The  following  extracts  are  from  Dr.-]\Iillcr's  diary. 

*  Lord's  day,  September  20, 1840.  This  day,  though  in  near- 
ly my  usual  health,  I  do  not  preach,  and  spend  a  part  of  the 
day  in  special  prayer,  with  reference  to  my  peculiar  circum- 
stances. 

*  Since  February  last,  my  health  has  been  unusually  delicate 

"Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Nisbet.  D.D.,  Into  President  of  Ditkinsnn 
College,  Carlisle.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Princeton,  New  Jersey.  New  York:  1^4U." — 12mo.  pp.  367. 

Vol.  IL— 33 


426  OLD   AGE.  [CH.  39.   2. 

and  feeble.  I  was,  in  tliat  month,  confined  nearly  four  weeks 
to  my  room.  Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  following  May,  I 
was  attacked  again  with  the  same  complaint — a  slow,  obstinate 
fever,  which,  though  at  no  time  very  severe,  was  obscure  and 
protracted.  From  that  attack  I  was  mercifully  raised  up,  so 
as  to  enter  again  on  the  duties  of  my  office,  after  a  confinement 
of  five  weeks;  not,  however,  until  a  few  days  after  the  term  in 
the  Seminary  had  begun.  But  I  had  been  scarcely  four  weeks 
attending  to  my  duties,  before  I  sustained  a  third  attack  of  a 
similar  kind,  which  confined  me  again  for  more  than  three 
weeks.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  by  the  advice  of  my  physician, 
I  went  to  Saratoga  Springs,  accompanied  by  my  beloved  wife, 

my  eldest  son,  my  daughter ,  and  a  young  niece  out  of 

health.  I  remained  at  the  Springs  just  a  week,  and  reached 
home  again  on  Saturday,  the  22d  of  August.  Since  that  time 
I  have  been  gradually  gathering  strength,  but  very  slowly  ; 
and  perhaps  may  never  regain  my  wonted  firmness.  But,  sure- 
ly, it  is  no  wonder  that  a  man,  and  a  sedentary  man  too,  who 
has  nearly  completed  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age,  should 
experience  much  infirmity,  and  never  know  again  the  feelings 
of  comfort  and  vigor,  which  he  once  knew.  Blessed  be  the 
Lord  for  the  comfort  I  have  enjoyed  hitherto.  And,  if  it  should 
please  him  never  to  restore  me  to  my  former  strength,  may  he 
enable  me,  as  long  as  I  do  live,  to  live  to  his  glory,  and  to  sus- 
tain my  decline,  however  painful  it  may  be,  with  patience,  hu- 
mility and  entire  resignation  to  his  will.' 

*  Lord's  day,  October  11,  1840.  This  day  I  do  not  preach  ; 
and,  being  at  home,  surrounded  by  my  dear  domestic  circle, 
and  enjoying  more  quiet  retirement  than  usual  on  the  holy 
Sabbath,  I  give  it  to  peculiar  exercises  of  devotion. 

'  I  have  been  led  to-day  to  reflect  on  the  multiplied  and  great 
mercies  of  God  to  me  in  my  pilgrimage.  They  are  more  nu- 
merous than  I  can  reckon  up,  and  richer  than  I  am  able  to 
estimate.  The  Lord  has  provided  for  my  temporal  wants  in  a 
more  ample  manner  than  in  early  life  I  ventured  to  anticipate. 
He  has  cast  my  lot  in  situations  which  could  hardly  have  been 
more  comfortable  than  they  were  and  are.  He  has  given  me 
one  of  the  most  precious  wives  that  ever  man  was  blest  with  ; 
one  whose  ardent  piety  has  been  to  me  a  constant  stimulus  and 
pattern ;  whose  strong  mind  and  practical  wisdom  have  ena- 
bled her  to  be  a  counsellor  and  guideof  inestimable  value;  and 
whose  exemplary  tenderness  and  affection  render  her  one  of  the 
most  delightful  of  companions.  Oh,  that  I  could  adequately 
prize  this  precious  gift  of  God,  and  duly  honor  her,  and  make 
a  suitable  improvement  of  her  example!     The  Lord  has  also 


1840.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  427 

given  me  children  dutiful  and  promising.  ]\ray  he  give  me 
grace  to  walk  before  them  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Lord  blameless ! 

*I  have  often  thought  that  my  lot  in  life  has  been  peculiarly 
adapted  to  promote  my  comfort  and  usefulness.  Had  I  been 
made  the  possessor  of  great  wealth,  I  have  reason  to  fear  that 
its  influence  upon  my  mind  would  have  been  highly  unlavor- 
able  to  my  best  interests.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  bad  I 
passed  my  life  in  abject  poverty,  I  should  have  been  cut  off 
from  many  of  those  advantages  and  opportunities  of  doing  good, 
which  the  dispensations  of  God's  providence  have  presented.  * 
*  "  I  will  bless  the  Lord  at  all  times :  his  praise  shall  con- 
tinually be  in  my  mouth." 

'But  when  I  contrast  these  mercies,  these  precious  advanta- 
ges, which  I  have  enjoyed,  with  the  poor  improvement  which 
I  have  made  of  them,  how  much  reason  have  I  to  be  humbled 
in  the  dust !     *     *' 

'  October  24,  1840.  The  return  of  this  day  reminds  me  of 
my  happy  marriage  thirty  nine  years  ago.  I  am  now  at 
Wilkesbarre,  in  Pennsylvania,  attending  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  which  has  assembled  this  year  in  a 
remote  corner  of  its  bounds;  and,  although  surrounded  ^vith 
company,  and  occupied  daily  and  hourly  with  the  business  of 
the  Synod,  I  cannot  forbear  to  recur,  with  grateful  recollection, 
to  that  precious  event  which,  thirty-nine  years  ago,  put  me  in 
possession  of  the  richest  earthly  gift  that  a  gracious  God  has 
ever  bestowed  upon  his  unw^orthy  servant.  *  *  As  she  has 
been  to  me  the  Ijest  of  ivives,  so,  I  trust,  my  children  will  ever 
remember,  that  she  has  been  to  them  the  best  of  mothers.' 

*  October  31,  1840.  My  birthday  has  again  returned.  *  * 
My  health  has  been  repeatedly  interrupted.  Li  February,  May 
and  August  last,  I  suffered  three  several  attacks  of  disease, 
which  indicated  a  decline  of  physical  vigor,  and  threatened  a 
speedy  termination  of  my  earthly  course.  But  my  health  and 
strength  seem  to  be  reviving,  and,  by  the  goodness  of  CJ<jd,  I 
have  now  a  prospect  of  some  further  continuance  of  life:  how 
long  I  know  not,  nor  do  I  desire  to  know.  May  the  Lord  pre- 
pare me  to  live  or  to  die,  as  shall  be  most  for  his  own  glory,  and 
for  my  eternal  benefit. 

*But  whatever  may  be  the  amount  of  the  little  remnant  here- 
after allotted  to  me, — and,  according  to  thecinnve  <jf  nature,  it 
can  be  but  little, — one  thing  is  certain,  and  is  brought  to  my 
mind  with  great  force  and  solemnity  to-day — that  my  past  life 
has  been  deplorably  unfruitful  and  polluted;  and  tliat  I  have 
unspeakable  reason,  on  this  occasion,  to  humble  myself  before 
God,  and  to  "  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 


428  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  2. 

'  The  nearer  I  draw  to  tlie  close  of  my  course,  the  more  pre- 
cious does  time  appear ;  the  more  lamentable  my  delinquencies 
heretofore ;  and  the  more  important  my  quickened  diligence  in 
future.  May  the  Lord,  by  his  blessed  Spirit,  enable  me,  from 
this  hour,  to  live  more  liiie  one  who  is  not  his  own,  who  is 
bought  with  a  price,  and  who  is  bound  to  glorify  God  in  his 
body,  and  in  his  spirit,  which  are  God's. 

*0  thou  Former  of  my  body  and  Father  of  my  spirit!  who 
hast  an  absolute  right  to  my  heart,  my  time,  and  my  entire  ser- 
vice, grant  that,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit,  I  may  be  roused  from  my 
spiritual  torpor  and  indolence ;  that  a  new  unction  from  on  high 
may  be  shed  upon  me;  and  that  whatever  remnant  of  life 
may  yet  be  afforded  me  may  be  more  diligently  and  faithfully 
devoted  to  my  Creator  and  Redeemer  than  it  has  ever  yet 
been.  Blessed  Saviour!  I  find  thine  own  declaration  more  and 
more  verified — that  without  thee  I  can  do  nothing.' 

Even  the  wedding-anniversary  records,  which  have  been 
already  given,  can  hardly  have  impressed  any  one  too  fa- 
vorably as  to  Dr.  Miller's  fidelity,  affection  and  tenderness 
as  a  husband,  or  as  to  the  happiness  of  his  married  life. 
On  this  subject  members  of  the  family  are  best  qualified  to 
speak.  The  confidence  which  dictated  his  immediately 
paying  over  to  his  wife  the  whole  of  his  salary,  to  be  dis- 
bursed without  the  rendering  of  any  account,  or  kept,  so 
far  as  anything  remained  from  the  expenses  of  the  house- 
hold, was  a  constantly  recurring  testimony  of  regard,  and, 
in  its  issue,  proof  complete,  that  his  heart  safely  trusted  in 
her.  The  explanation  which  he  gave  of  this  practice  was, 
that,  in  his  Delaware  home,  where  the  circumstances  of  the 
family,  as  we  have  seen,  were  often  painfully  straightened, 
he  had  witnessed,  frequently,  his  dear  mother's  2:)ecuniarj 
difficulties  and  embarrassments  with  distress,  and  had  re- 
solved that  his  own  wife  should  never  suffer  in  the  same 
way,  if  his  utmost  efi*orts  could  prevent.  And  this  consid- 
erate and  respectful  compliment  was  only  a  small  part  of 
that  consideration  and  respect  which  she  received  from  him 
at  all  times;  and  which,  moreover,  he  constantly  manifest- 
ed towards  all  her  sex;  about  which  none  ever  heard  him, 
so  far  back,  at  least,  as  the  memory  of  his  surviving  chil- 
dren extends,  make  a  slighting,  much  less  a  disparaging 
remark.  How  often  gentlemen  of  real  refinement,  courtesy, 
and  good  feeling,  permit  themselves  to  be  betrayed  into  the 


1840.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  429 

indulgence  of  their  wit,  and  of  perhaps  an  unworthy  sense 
of  rivalry,  at  the  expense  of  woman  ;  but  from  everytliing 
of  this  kind  Dr.  Miller  was  remarkably  exempt.  The  best 
offices  of  a  brother's  thoughtful  affection  were  never  want- 
ing to  either  of  his  sisters,  while  they  lived.  ]Mrs.  McLane, 
particularly,  who  longest  survived,  was  nearest  to  him,  and 
passed  several  of  her  latest  years  in  widowhood,  received 
from  him  all  the  attention  which  a  brother  could  bestow. 
To  the  inspiring  influence  of  his  own  mother,  whose  memory 
he  cherished  with  singular  steadfastness,  seemed  to  be  due 
the  esteem  and  deference  thus  exhibited  toward  the  female 
sex  in  general.  And  no  doubt  the  annual  religious  cele- 
bration of  his  wedding-day  served  to  de&pen  sucli  feelings, 
to  make  him  a  better  husband,  and  to  strengthen  and  con- 
secrate every  family  tie. 

AVriting  on  the  6th  of  October,  1840,  to  the  Rev.  Nicho- 
las Murray,^  of  Elizabethtown,  by  Jonathan  P.  Alward, 
the  missionary  to  Africa,  who  Avas  about  to  apply  for 
license,  Dr.  Miller  said, 

'  I  have  suggested  to  him  that  *  *  he  ought  not  to  re- 
turn to  Africa  without  being  ordained.  As  he  contemplates 
remaining  there  a  considerable  time,  perhaps  permanently,  is  it 
not  highly  desirable;  nay,  in  reference  to  the  great  objects  of 
his  mission,  very  important,  that  he  should  go  clothed  with  the 
character  and  powers  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel?  I  know  of 
no  rule  which  fixes  the  time  that  ought  to  elapse  between  licen- 
sure and  ordination.  The  latter  may  follow  the  former  in  ten 
days,  in  a  week,  or  even  in  twenty-four  hours,  if  the  judicatory 
is  satisfied.  I  venture,  with  diffidence,  to  suggest  my  opinion 
in  the  case.  If  I  had  a  vote  to  give,  *  *  X  should  certain- 
ly give  it  in  favor  of  his  ordination.' 

3.     Later  Episcopal  Controversies. 

In  the  fall  of  1840,  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publica- 
tion issued  a  new  work,  from  Dr.  Miller's  pen,  def('n<ling 
Presbyterian  orders.'  It  was  substantially  an  abridgment 
of  his  Letters  on  the  Christian  Ministry,  before  mentioned.^ 

1  Afterwards,  D.D. 

3  "The  Primitive  and  Apostolical  Order  of  the  Church  of  Christ  Vindicated. 
By  Samuel  Miller.  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 
P'hiladclph'a:  1840."— T2mo.  Pp.  388. 

3  See  I  Vol.,  218.  II  Vol.,  161. 


430  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

The  Preface,  after  giving  the  history  of  those  Letters,  re- 
fers to  "recent  and  repeated  attempts  to  circulate  with 
new  zeal,  in  different  parts  of  our  country,  those  manuals 
which  denounce  and  virtually  excommunicate  Presbyte- 
rians," and  to  the  lately  published  Oxford  "Tracts  for  the 
Times,"  as  having  occasioned  the  work.  This  w^as  the  last 
of  the  author's  volumes  upon  the  prelatical  controversy, 
and  perhaps  presents  his  view  of  it  in  the  best,  certainly  in 
the  most  compact  form. 

From  the  year  1807,  when  the  Letters  on  the  Christian 
Ministry  were  first  issued,  until  Dr.  Miller's  death,  he  was 
constantly  under  fire  from  prelatical  opponents.  Those 
Letters  in  the  original  edition,  and  as  republished  in  1830, 
his  successive  works  on  the  Ruling  Eldership,  his  Memoirs 
of  Dr.  Rodgers,  his  tract  of  1835  on  Presbyterianism,  the 
volume  just  now  mentioned  on  the  Primitive  and  iVpostolical 
Order  of  the  Church,  and  his  subsequent  Introduction  to 
Scott's  Force  of  Truth,  with  some  minor  publications, 
furnished  an  excuse  for  ceaseless  attacks,  which  w'ere  suc- 
cessful chiefly  in  exhibiting  the  importance  which  their 
authors  attached  to  discrediting,  if  possible,  first  the  New 
York  pastor,  then  the  Princeton  professor,  and  their  own 
manners  and  spirit.  To  give  the  details  of  this  guerilla 
warfare  would  w^eary  the  reader :  a  few  specimens  only, 
with  some  general  statements  will  be  presented — thrown 
together  here  without  primary  regard  to  dates  or  minute 
circumstances.  The  opponents  in  question  were,  for  the 
most  part,  entirely  agreed  in  the  opinion  that  Dr.  Miller 
had  been  previously,  and  finally  vanquished — slain ;  but 
none  of  them  could  forbear  pounding  his  dead  body,  to 
make  sure  that  the  life  was  out  of  it. 

The  "Southern  Churchman,"^  a  fledgeling  Episcopal 
newspaper  of  Richmond,  signalized  the  twelfth  week  of  its 
existence,  by  publishing  an  article  entitled  "  Pious  Frauds," 
charging  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller  plumply  with  what- 
ever that  title  meant.  A  few  weeks  later,^  appeared,  in 
the  same  issue  of  this  paper,  answers  from  both,  repelling 
w^ith  some  warmth,  as  well  they  might,  the  unchristian  at- 
tack. Dr.  Alexander  under  no  pledge  whatever,  had  con- 
sented to  prepare  for  the  American  Sunday  School  Union, 

1  Of  20th  March,  1835.  ^  17th  April. 


1840.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  431 

an  amended  edition  of  Gurncy's  "Diamond  Pocket  Dic- 
tionary of  the  Bible."  The  reputed  author,  Mr.  Gurney, 
was  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Eiifrland,  and  the  Union's 
Publishing  Committee,  in  which  the  Episcopal  Church  wns 
fully  represented,  had,  with  entire  liberty  of  rejecting  the 
whole  or  any  part,  revised  the  work  as  it  came  from  Dr. 
Alexander.  The  latter  had  refused  to  alter  any  of  the 
theological  opinions  of  the  book,  but  had  pointed  out  some 
things  which  he  feared  might  offend  Episcopalians  ;  and 
the  committee  had  made  changes  rendering  it,  as  the 
Episcopal  members  believed,  wholly  unexceptionable  on 
this  score.  After  a  large  part  of  the  revised  edition  had 
been  stereotyped,  Dr.  Alexander  had  discovered,  tliat  Mr. 
Gurney's  Dictionary  was  an  unblushing  plagiarism  from  the 
work  of  that  staunch  Presbyterian,  John  Brown  of  Had- 
dington !  Of  this  he  had  immediately  informed  the  com- 
mittee; but  its  Episcopal  members  being  satisfied  with  the 
book,  it  was  published,  with  neither  Gurney's  nor  Brown's 
name  upon  the  title  page,  but  with  a  simple  reference  in 
the  preface  to  both  these  authors — to  the  former  as  having 
abridged  the  latter. 

In  his  answer,  Dr.  Alexander,  wrote, 

"  I  cannot  refrain  from  observing,  that  this  method  of  at- 
tacking ministers  of  the  gospel,  in  the  public  prints,  is  one  of 
the  most  injurious  kinds  of  calumny  of  which  a  man  can  be 
guilty.  No  man  will  ever  persuade  me,  that  any  one  who  had 
the  fear  of  God,  at  the  time,  before  his  eyes,  would  dare  to 
write  such  a  paper,  as  the  one  referred  to  above ;  and  in  this  case, 
I  can  see  but  little  difference  between  the  author  and  the  pub- 
lisher. To  charge  a  minister  in  good  standing,  with  the  com- 
mission of  a  "fraud,"  would,  I  believe,  subject  the  writer,  or 
publisher,  to  an  action  for  damages,  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
I  may  be  more  sentitive  than  is  necessary,  because  in  a  life  of 
more  than  three  score  years,  I  have  never  before  deemed  it  ex- 
pedient to  appear  in  the  public  prints,  in  defence  of  any  part 
of  my  conduct.     *     * 

"And  in  the  conclusion,  you  will  permit  me  to  say,  that  if 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia,  or  the  "  Southern  Cliurch- 
man,"  its  advocate,  can  derive  any  advantage  from  the  publi- 
cation of  such  pieces  as  that  referred  to  above,  the  inhabitants 
of  my  native  State  must  have  strangely  altered,  since  1  left 
them." 


432  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

Dr.  Miller's  ''frauds"  consisted  in  the  "  misrepresenta- 
tions and  false  quotations,"  of  which  Dr.  Bowden,  and, 
copying  from  the  latter,  Dr.  Cooke,  had  "convicted"  him; 
of  the  statement,  that  an  Episcopal  minister  had  been  "dis- 
missed "  by  his  diocesan,  for  conscientiously  changing  a 
few  Avords  in  the  office  for  baptism,  when  he  administered 
that  ordinance,  to  avoid  teaching  baptismal  regeneration  ; 
the  fact  being  that  he  had  resigned,  upon  an  intimation 
from  his  diocesan,  that  he  must  be  disciplined  if  he  repeat- 
ed the  offence  ;  but  Dr.  Miller  having  been  informed,  credi- 
bly as  he  supposed,  that  the  Bishop  had  told  this  clergyman, 
that  his  services  in  the  church  were  no  longer  needed,  and 
that  his  immediate  retirement  from  it  was  wished;  of  the 
inadvertent  substitution,  by  himself  or  the  printer,  of  the 
word  "  may  "  for  "  shall"  in  the  rubric,  "Parents  shall  be 
admitted  as  Sponsors,  if  it  be  desired;"  and  of  having,  in 
Presbyterian  simplicity,  and  in  wicked  ignorance  of  the 
jargon  of  Ritualism,  called  "  god  parents,"  "  sponsors." 

After  referring  to  the  conclusive  answ^ers,  as  he  supposed, 
which  had  been  given  to  Dr.  Bowden  and  Dr.  Cooke,  Dr. 
Miller  said, 

"  The  truth  is,  Mr.  Editor,  amidst  the  numerous  publications 
which  I  have  made  on  the  Episcopal  controversy,  within  the 
last  twenty-five  years,  I  do  not  claim  to  have  been  infallible, 
either  in  quoting  ancient  authors,  or  in  commenting  on  my  ex- 
tracts from  them.  Amidst  many  hundred  quotations,  in  various 
languages,  it  would  indeed  be  marvellous  if  I  had  in  no  in- 
stance fallen  into  some  mistakes  which  might  expose  me  to  the 
animadversion  of  captious  critics.  But,  after  the  calm  reflec- 
tion of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  after  cherishing,  as  I  hope, 
some  measure  of  that  serious  and  conscientious  feeling  which 
certainly  becomes  an  old  man,  drawing  near  to  his  last  account — 
I  can  sincerely  declare,  that  I  am  not  conscious  of  having  made, 
in  the  whole  of  my  writings  on  the  controversy  in  question,  a 
single  quotation  or  representation  justly  chargeable  with  un- 
fairness ;  and  that  if  I  were  now  called  upon  to  review  and 
modify,  upon  the  strictest  principles  of  verity,  all  that  I  have 
ever  written  on  this  subject,  ray  sincere  convictions  would  con- 
strain me  to  advance  with  increased  confidence,  to  urge  with 
new  zeal,  and  to  fortify  with  additional  testimony,  the  substance 
of  all  that  I  have  ever  written,  without  a  single  exception,  which 
any  candid  and  intelligent  reader  could  pronounce  mate- 
rial.    *     * 


1840.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  433 

"*  *  I  am  not  only  conscious  of  having  used  no  inirtiiriiess 
in  quoting  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers  and  other  ^^itnesses;  in 
my  representations  of  the  import  of  that  testimony;  or  in  any 
other  branch  of  my  argument  against  prelacy ;  but,  if  I  am  not 
utterly  deceived,  it  may  be  asserted  that  every  main  })lea  which 
I  have  urged  in  favor  of  my  cause,  with  carcely  an  exception, 
has  been,  at  one  time  or  another,  adopted  and  urged  by  learn- 
ed Episcopal  divines.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
writings  of  bishop  StiU'uig fleet,  bislioj)  Croft,  bishop  Jewell, 
bishop  Manton,  professor  Whitaker,  the  very  learned  Willet, 
etc.  etc.,  will  know  what  I  mean.  Yes,  hundreds  of  Episcopal 
writers  themselves  are  witnesses  to  the  fairness  of  my  (piotations, 
and  to  the  relevancy  and  legitimacy  of  all  my  principal  argu- 
ments." 

When  the  tract  on  Presbyterianism  was  published,  it  w.as 
issued,  entire,  in  The  American  Presbyterian  of  Nashville. 
This  brought  out  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  "A  Letter  to  the 
Editor  of  the  American  Presbyterian,  etc.,"  of  which  the 
Rev'd  George  Weller,  D.D.,  seems  to  have  been  the  author, 
charfrins:  Dr.  Miller,  after  the  old  fashion,  with  having; 
made  an  unprovoked  assault,  and  with  having  cherished  a 
long  continued  and  vehement  animosity  against  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  Dr.  Miller  replied,  in  a  letter,^  from  which 
the  followino;  extract  is  taken: — 

"No  sooner  had  I  made  the  publication  above  referred  to,  in 
pure  self-defence,  than  I  w^as  vehemently  attacked,  and,  in  some 
instances,  with  gross  indecorum,  by  three  or  four  assailants,  who 
really  seemed  to  resent  a  word's  being  said  in  defence  of  Presby- 
terianism! Their  works  abounded  with  what  may  not  impro- 
perly be  called  personal  abuse.  The  same  system  of  contro- 
versy has  been  kept  up  by  our  Episcopal  neighbors,  ever  since, 
Avith  scarcely  any  intermission.  Books  and  pamphlets  of  the  same 
exclusive  and  offensive  character  with  those  before  mentioned, 
have  been  multiplied  and  incessantly  circulated  for  the  last  twen- 
ty years.  North,  South,  East,  and  West,  every  periodical  press 
under  Episcopal  guidance  has  been  teeming  with  claiins  and 
attacks  characterized  by  the  most  sectarian  exclusiveuess.  For 
a  page  of  this  character,  which  has  appeared  from  a  Presby- 
terian pen,  I  mav  safely  say,  five  hundred  have  emanated  from 
our  Episcopal  neighbors.  *Not  only  so;  but  the  scconcl  edition 
of  my  "Letters  on  the  Constitution  and  Order  of  the  Christian 
Ministry,"  in  1830,  was  prompted  by  violent,  indecent,  and  un- 

1  Am.  Presb.,  3d  Sept.,  1S35. 


434  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

candid  attacks  on  that  particular  work,  and  personal  challenges 
to  defend  what  I  had  written.  And,  finally,  when  the  Tract 
Society  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  requested  me  to  prepare 
a  little  manual  in  defenceofPresbyterianism,  their  request  was 
founded  on  the  known  fact,  that  pamphlet  after  pamphlet  was 
sent  forth  almost  every  week  from  the  Episcopal  camp,  in- 
tended to  show  the  invalidity  of  Presbyterian  ordination  and 
ordinances,  and  to  recommend  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  Epis- 
copal church,  as  alone  supported  by  scripture.  Tracts  and 
pamphlets  of  this  kind  were  at  that  very  time  in  active  circula- 
tion, and  obtrusively  put  into  the  hands  of  Presbyterians  for 
proselyting  purposes :  and  with  regard  to  one  of  these  tracts  in 
particular,  special  pains  were  taken  to  circulate  it  among  mem- 
bers of  our  church,  with  more  than  an  intimation,  again  and 
again,  that  an  answer  from  some  Presbyterian  pen  was  expected ; 
that  discussion  was  desired ;  and  that  if  none  appeared,  it  would 
be  considered  as  an  acknowledgment  that  the  Episcopal  cause 
was  triumphant. 

"What  will  the  candid  reader  now  think  of  the  charge  of 
my  having  been  guilty  of  "an  unprovoked  assault"  on  the 
Episcopal  church,  and  of  having  waged  against  her  a  causeless 
and  bitter  warfare?  The  truth  is  I  have  never  published  a 
sentence  in  any  wise  respecting  that  denomination,  but  what 
was  drawn  from  me  by  repeated  previous  assaults  on  her  part, 
and  in  the  purest  self-defence." 

The  latter  part  of  1841  and  the  beginning  of  1842  were 
disquieted,  or  enlivened,  whichever  it  may  have  been,  by  a 
newspaper  controversy  between  Bishop  Ives  of  North  Caro- 
lina, aided  by  the  Banner  of  the  Cross,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Dr.  Miller.     The  latter  said, 

"  "*"  *  a  correspondent  in  North  Carolina  informed  me 
that  bishop  Ives,  in  a  public  discourse  delivered  a  short  time 
before,  alleged  that  the  celebrated  Reformer,  Calvin,  had 
avowed  a  belief  in  the  divine  institution  of  Episcopacy,  and 
had  requested  to  receive  Episcopal  ordination  from  the  Bishops 
of  England.  My  correspondent  requested  me  to  inform  him 
whether  there  was  any  foundation  for  this  statement.  I  ven- 
tured, without  hesitation,  to  assure  him  that  there  was  not,  and 
that  no  well  informed  person  could  possibly  make  it."^ 

This  letter  was  written  hastily,  in  the  confidence  of  pri- 
vate intercourse,  and  without  a  thought  of  its  publication  ; 
but  Dr.  Miller's  correspondent,  unhappily,  had  it  at  once 

1  The  Presbyterian,  5th  February,  1842.  P.  21. 


18-40.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  435 

inserted  in  the  Lincolnton  Republican  ;  and  more  unhappi- 
ly still,  its  tone,  as  he  himself  afterwards  felt,  was  really 
indefensible.  In  a  subsequent  part  of  the  controversy  he 
said, 

"  My  letter  was  a  private  one,  published  without  my  know- 
ledge or  consent.  If  it  had  been  intended  fur  the  i)ublic  eye, 
some  of  its  language  would,  undoubtedly,  have  been  modified. 
I  certainly  never  intended  to  convey  the  idea  that  Bishop  Ives 
advanced  anything  which  he  did  not  fully  believe  to  be  a  fact ; 
but  that  he  hastily  accredited  and  repeated  statements,  which 
more  careful  inquiry  would  have  led  him  to  omit.  If  any  ex- 
pression of  mine  is  considered  as  going  beyond  this,  (and  I  fear 
some  of  it  is  liable  to  be  so  construed,)  I  shall  very  much  re- 
gret having  used  it."^ 

Bishop  Ives  replied  in  the  Lincolnton  Republican  of  the 
10th  of  August.  Dr.  Miller  forwarded  a  rejoinder  to  the 
same  paper,  which,  however,  the  editor  declined  publishing, 
and  it  subsequently  appeared  in  the  Presbyterian.^  Mean- 
while The  Banner  of  the  Cross^  republished  Dr.  Miller's 
original  letter  and  Bishop  Ives's  reply,  with  additions  and 
comments  of  its  own;  and  Dr.  Miller  defended  himself  and 
the  character  of  Calvin,  against  this  additional  assault,  in 
three  further  articles  in  the  Presbyterian.*  The  Banner  of 
the  Cross  took  this  occasion  to  repeat  very  offensively,  the 
stale  "  charges  of  misquotation  from  the  Fathers,  brought 
against"  Dr.  Miller  "by  Drs.  Bowden,  Cooke  and  others, 
and  which  he  "  had  "  never  yet  cleared  up  ;  "  and  strangely 
enough,  the  editor  signalized  this  reckless  renewal  of  an 
oft  refuted  calumny,  by  himself  making,  no  doubt  through 
ignorance  and  invincible  prejudice,  though  most  rashly, 
within  the  space  of  a  few  sentences,  in  the  course  of  his  own 
comments,  three  or  four  of  the  grossest  misquotations  from 
Calvin  and  Dr.  Miller  which  could  well  be  imagined. 

The  assertion  that  Calvin  was  a  prelatist  at  heart,  an  as- 
sertion sustained  by  the  mere  say  so  of  enemies,  and  by 
totally  misconceived  extracts  from  his  writings,  contrary  to 
his  most  express  and  repeated  declarations,  and  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  course  as  a  reformer,   was   certainly  fitted  to 

1  The  Presbyterian,  18th  De-  »  1 1th   Deoorabor,  1841,  .395.  etc. 

cember,  1841,  202,  *  18  and  25th  Dfcomber,  1841,  202, 

2  5th  and  12th  of  February,  1342,  21,  25.  206.     Ist  Jauuary,  1842,  2. 


436  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

throw  even  a  mild  polemic  off  of  his  balance.  To  illustrate 
the  sort  of  evidence  on  which  this  charge  was  made,  and 
Dr.  Miller  accused  of  disputing  history  and  the  express 
words  of  Calvin  himself,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  The 
Banner  of  the  Cross  quotes  from  the  latter  as  follows: — 
"As  we  have  stated  that  there  are  tliree  kinds  of  ministei'S 
recommended  to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  so  the  ancient  Church 
divided  all  the  ministers  it  had  into  three  orders." — "To 
guard  against  dissension,  the  general  consequence  of  equali- 
ty, the  presbyters  in  each  city  chose  one  of  their  own  num- 
ber, whom  they  distinguished  by  the  title  of  bishop.''  On 
examination,  however,  of  the  whole  context  from  which 
these  extracts  are  taken,  it  appears  (1)  that  Calvin's  "three 
kinds  of  ministers  recommended  to  us  in  the  Scriptures," 
were  the  pastor,  ruling  elders  and  deacons  of  a  Presby- 
terian congregation;  (2)  that  the  "  ancient  Church."  of 
which  he  speaks,  was  the  Church  after  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  in  the  regulations  of  which  "there  might  be 
something  to  be  regretted;  "  (3)  that  the  presbyter  chosen 
from  among  the  rest,  and  styled  bishop,  was  a  mere  presi- 
dent, or  moderator,  "introduced  by  human  agreement," 
and  having  none  of  the  distinguishing  functions  of  a  modern 
bishop.^ 

Subsequently,  The  Banner  of  the  Cross  said, 

"We  have  received  from  a  valued  correspondent  in  Balti- 
more, an  able  article  in  reply  to  the  late  strange  effusions  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  in  which  that  gentleman  is  handled  without 
gloves,  and  a  mass  of  historical  testimony  added  to  support  the 
assertions  of  Bishop  Ives  in  relation  to  Calvin's  views  of  Epis- 
copacy. We  hope  our  friend  will  be  disposed  to  exercise  the 
same  forbearance  towards  the  Princeton  Professor  which  we 
are  practising,  and  in  this  belief  we  shall  take  the  liberty  of 
withholding  his  communication  for  the  present." 

The  "forbearance"  of  a  polemic,  proclaiming  to  all  the 
world  his  opponent's  weakness,  but  withholding  the  proof, 
would  hardly  have  been  discerned,  if  the  charity  by  which 
it  was  exercised  had  not  sounded  its  own  trumpet.  The 
ordinary  tactics  of  the  prelatical  guerrillas  who,  for  so  many 
years,    strove    to    disturb    Dr.   Miller's     peace,   were    to 

1  Institutes,  Bk.  iv.     Ch.  iii.  8.  9.     iv.  1.  2. 


1840.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  437 

charge  upon  a  point  vainly  imagined  to  be  pregnable, 
and,  recoiling  from  unexpected  defences,  make  up  for  it  by 
boasting  of  what  they  had  done,  or  could  have  done ;  or  of 
what  others  had  done  many  a  time  before  ;  though,  indeed, 
to  tell  of  their  opponent's  frequent  previous  defeats  was 
often  deemed  sufficient,  without  any  fresh  tilt.  And,  per- 
haps, The  Banner  of  the  Cross  alone  is  to  be  complimented 
for  the  invention  of  this  new  strategy  of  "  forbearance." 

In  June  or  July,  1841,  Bishop  Polk,  in  the  course  of  a 
sermon  preached  at  Halifax,  North  Carolina,  on  the  rite 
of  Confirmation,  declared  that  a  respectable  committee  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  had  re- 
commended the  use  of  that  rite.  This  assertion  had  been 
before,  and  was  afterwards,  repeatedly  made;  and  as  Dr. 
Miller  had  been  chairman  of  the  committee,  its  report  was 
alleged  to  be  utterly  inconsistent  with  what  he  had  said 
about  Confirmation  in  his  tract  on  Presbyterianism.  This 
assertion  he  noticed  more  than  once  in  private  letters  and 
in  the  newspapers.  The  substantial  facts  of  the  case  were 
these: — (1)  Although,  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly, 
Dr.  Miller's  name  stands  before  those  of  Dr.  John  B.  Ro- 
meyn  and  Dr.  James  Richards,  the  other  members  of  the 
committee.  Dr.  Romeyn  really  acted  as  chairman,  drawing 
up  and  presenting  the  report: — (2)  Dr.  Miller  agreed  to 
let  the  report  go  to  the  Assembly,  signing  it  j)ro  forma, 
but  expressly  dissenting  from  it,  both  in  the  committee, 
and  before  the  judicatory,  on  the  ground  that,  while  its 
mention  of  the  rite  in  question,  and  of  Calvin's  and  Dr. 
Owen's  views  on  the  subject,  was  not  strictly  incorrect,  it 
was  unguarded  and  ambiguous,  and  likely  to  be  used  as 
Prelatists  were  even  now  using,  or  rather  abusing  it: — (3) 
Neither  Calvin,  Dr.  Owen,  nor  .Dr.  Romeyn's  report  ever 
commended  Confirmation,  in  any  proper  sense,  much  less 
in  the  Prelatical  sense,  as  either  scriptural  or  apostolical; 
and  the  report  simply  mentioned  it  as  an  evidence  and  ex- 
ample of  the  interest  taken  by  the  Church  of  other  ages  in 
her  baptized  children,  and  her  tender  care  of  them: — (4) 
The  General  Assembly  recommitted  the  report  to  the  same 
committee  for  revision  and  publication,  "without  express- 
ing any  opinion  on"  it — simply  recommending  it  "  to   the 


438  OLD   AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

serious  consideration  of  all  the  Presbyteries  and  minis- 
ters."^ 

In  1841,  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  issued 
an  edition  of  Dr.  Thomas  Scott's  ''  Force  of  Truth,"  "with 
a  Recommendatory  Letter  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller, 
D.D."  In  the  Episcopal  Recorder  of  the  8th  of  January, 
1842,  appeared  a  communication  from  Dr.  Miller,  commenc- 
ing thus: — 

"3Iessrs.  Editors — I  never  read  with  more  unmingled  amaze- 
ment any  newspaper  assault,  than  that  which  was  directed 
against  me  in  the  Recorder  of  Friday  last,  under  the  signature 
of  "A  Layman."  The  writer  tells  the  public,  that,  in  my  Re- 
commendatory Letter  prefixed  to  an  edition  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Scott's  "  Force  of  Truth,"  lately  sent  forth  by  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication,  I  caution  my  readers  against  the  possible 
influence  of  the  life  of  a  holy  man,  Avho  "happened  to  be  con- 
nected with  an  unholy  church.''^  The  last  clause  in  this  sentence 
is  marked  by  the  "Layman"  with  inverted  commas,  as  if  it 
were  my  language;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  in- 
tended that  his  readers  should  so  regard  it.  I  can  only  say, 
Messrs.  Editors,  that  such  an  imputation  is  a  most  unjust  one. 
I  never  penned  or  uttered  such  language,  and  should  abhor  the 
thought  of  doing  it. 

"  I  forbear  to  apply  what  appears  to  me  the  appropriate  epi- 
thets to  the  language  which  this  writer  thinks  fit  to  employ. 
The  best  answer,  as  I  suppose,  that  can  be  given  to  his  harsh 
and  acrimonious  representation,  is  to  transcribe  the  whole  of 
what  I  say  concerning  Dr.  Scott  as  an  Episcopal  clergyman." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  copy  the  passage  here.  The  Epis- 
copal Recorder  said,  "'We  ourselves  had  not  read  the  pre- 
face referred  to:"  "our  correspondent  must  answer  for 
himself  as  to  the  correctness  of  his  quotations:"  "most 
happy  are  we  to  learn,  from  the  following  communication, 
that  our  correspondent  quite  mistook  Dr.  Miller's  meaning." 
The  latter  closed  his  letter  as  follows  : — 

"In  regard  to  the  "Layman's"  tone  of  exultation  and 
triumph  at  the  rapid  increase  of  his  sect,  by  means  of  proselytes 
from  Presbyterianism,  and  his  confidence  that  there  will  be 
much  more  of  this  increase  in  time  to  come,  I  have  little  to  say. 
There  has  often  been  such  a  thing  as  unhallowed  and  prema- 
ture triumph.     There  is  an  excellent  book  in  which  it  is  written, 

1  Minutes  1811,  480.     1812,  509. 


1840.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  430 

'•Pride  goetli  before  destruction,  and  an  haughty  spirit  before 
a  fall:"  "When  pride  cometh,  then  conieth  shame;  but  with 
the  lowly  is  wisdom."  " 

A  charge  constantly  made  and  industriously  circulated 
against  Dr.  Miller,  in  spite  of  the  fullest  repeated  explana- 
tions and  refutation,  was  that,  to  serve  controversial  purpo- 
ses, he  had  made,  at  different  times,  entirely  irreconcihible 
statements  in  regard  to  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius — so  called. 
The  statements  thus  characterized  were  found  in  his  "  Let- 
ters on  the  Christian  Ministry,"  and  his  *' Letters  on  Unitari- 
anism,"  from  which  the  following  collated  extracts  are  taken. 

"The  fourth  place,  in  the  "The  author  is  aware,  that 
list  of  Apostolic  Fathers,  be-  the  authenticity  of  the  Ei)istles 
longs  to  Ignatius.  The  Epistles  of  Ignatius  has  been  called  in 
which  go  under  the  name  of  this  question,  as  well  as  that  of  Bar- 
venerable  Christian  Bishop,  nabas,  before  quoted.  It  is  im- 
have  been  the  subject  of  much  possible  in  a  work  written  on 
controversy.  That  some  copies  the  plan,  and  with  the  design, 
of  them  were  interpolated,  and  of  these  letters,  to  enter  into 
exceedingly  corrupted,  in  the  the  merits  of  controversies  of 
dark  ao-es,  all  learned  men  now  this  sort.  It  is  sufficient  for  his 
agree.  And  that  even  the  purpose  to  say,  that  the  great 
"Shorter  Epistles,"  as  published  body  of  learned  men  consider 
by  Ushei'  and  Vossius,  are  un-  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  and 
worthy  of  confidence,  as  the  the  smaller  Epistles  of  Ignatius 
genuine  works  of  the  Father  (and  from  these  alone  he  offers 
whose  name  they  bear,  is  the  quotations)  as,  in  the  main,  the 
opinion  of  many  of  the  ablest  real  works  of  the  writers  whose 
and  best  judges  in  the  Protes-  names  they  bear.  Ofthisopin- 
tant  world."^  ion  was  the  eminently  learned 

Unitarian,  Dr.  Lardner.^ 

The  opponents  of  Dr.  Miller  quoted  thus: — 
"That    even    the     'Shorter       "  The  great  body  of  learned 
Epistles'    of  Ignatius  are   un-  men     consider      the      smaller 
worthy  of  confidence,   as   the  Epistles    of    Ignatius    as,    in 
genuine   works  of  the   Father  the   main,"  the  real    works    of 
whose  name   they  bear,  is  the  the    writer  whose    name    they 
opinion  of  many  of  the  ablest  bear." 
and  best  judges  in  the  Protes- 
tant world." 

The  theological  world  has  been   of   late  years  tending 

1  Letters  on  the  Ministry,  (1807)  I.  Vol.,  140.  (1830,)  90. 

2  Letters  on   Unitarianism,  122. 


440  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

more  and  more  to  tlie  conviction,  that  the  sagacious  Calvin 
was  right,  when  he  said,  upwards  of  three  hundred  years 
ago,  "  There  is  nothing  more  abominable  than  that  trash 
which  is  in  circulation  under  the  name  of  lojnatius."^  But, 
when  Dr.  Miller  wrote,  it  was  strictly  true,  (1)  that  the 
great  body  of  learned  theologians  considered  the  smaller 
Epistles  as,  in  the  main,  the  real  works  of  Ignatius  ;  but, 
(2)  that  many  of  the  best  judges  believed  they  had  been 
interpolated  to  favour  Prelacy.  In  these  opinions  he  con- 
curred, and,  with  the  celebrated  Professor  Neander,  re- 
garded the  testimony  of  the  smaller  Epistles  as  worthless 
to  support  the  Hierarchy,  but  as  reliable  on  other  sub- 
jects. Hence  in  arguing  against  Episcopalians,  he  objected 
to  them,  but  quoted  them  with  confidence  against  Unita- 
rians. Was  there  the  slightest  inconsistency  here  ?  But 
was  not  his  language  in  the  earlier  work  inconsistent  with 
that  in  the  later?  His  opponents  were  fond  of  charging 
him  with  "  garbling"  his  quotations — a  charge  which  shall 
not  here  be  retorted;  but  their  omissions  alone  gave  the 
least  colour  to  the  accusation  that  he  had  contradicted 
himself.  To  deny  that  writings  are  genuine  may  mean 
either  that  they  are  not  at  all  the  work  of  the  author  whose 
name  they  bear,  or  that  they  have  been  merely  adulterated 
— interpolated.  Such  interpolation  is,  of  course,  not  in- 
consistent with  their  being  "  in  the  main  the  real  works" 
of  that  author.  Now,  Dr.  Miller  was  fairly  entitled  to  the 
interpretation  of  the  word  genuine,  in  the  earlier  statement, 
which  should  bring  it  into  harmony  with  the  later  one,  even 
though  his  language  did  not  of  necessity  demand  it.  But, 
in  truth,  tliat  interpretation  is  absolutely  required  by  the 
foregoing  sentence,  Avhich  his  accusers  omitted.  He  says, 
that  some  copies  were  generally  agreed  to  have  been  inter- 
polated, and  that  in  the  opinion  of  many  of  the  best  judges, 
even  the  "  Shorter  Epistles"  were  not  genuine — that  is  had 
been  interpolated  also. 

This  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  Dr.  Miller's  Episcopal 
accusers  fitly  introduces  us  to  another  charge  which  they 
persistently  urged  against  him  in  spite  of  the  clearest  proof 
of  its  gross  injustice.     This  charge,  which  has  been  already 

'  Institutes  I.  xiiu  29.  Or  as  Allen  translates,  ''Nothing  can  be  more  ab- 
surd than  the  impertinences  whivh  have  been  published  under  the  name  of 
Ignatius." 


1840.]  LATER    EPISCOPAL    CONTROVERSIES.  441 

referred  to  more  tlian  once,  was,  that  he  had  quoted  the 
Fathers,  particularly  Ignatius,  unfairly  and  disiiiirnui- 
ously — that  his  quotations  were  "garbled."  Polunncs 
must  be  expected  to  differ  from  their  opponents  as  to  the 
proper  extent  of  extracts  from  -works  quoted:  all  will 
agree  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  whole  of  a  work  ;  but, 
naturally  enough,  few  will  concur  in  an  opponent's  idea  of 
the  reasonable  limits  of  a  citation.  And  if,  as  to  a  matter 
so  simple,  comparatively,  as  this,  there  must  be  endless  dif- 
ferences of  opinion,  how  much  more,  when  the  real  mean- 
ing of  an  author,  or  the  true  force  of  a  passage  quoted,  comes 
into  question.  To  make  diversities  of  judgment,  on  such 
points,  the  ground  of  loose  charges  of  willful  misrepresen- 
tation and  dishonesty  indicates  little  humility  and  less  moral 
discernment,  not  to  speak  at  all  of  christian  charity. 
Charges  of  this  kind  may  "  have  their  reward,"  in  convinc- 
ing those  who  are  unable  to  comprehend  an  argument,  and 
count,  always,  the  more  abusive  polemic  the  triumphant 
one  ;  but,  with  thoughtful  readers,  can  only  prejudice  the 
cause  on  behalf  of  which  they  are  exhibited.  To  say  thus 
much  only,  under  the  present  head,  in  Dr.  Miller's  defence, 
would  be  saying,  however,  far  less  tlian  his  assailants, 
whose  name  was  "  Legion,"  deserved.  That  what  they  al- 
leged they  really  believed  may  be  freely  admitted,  without 
paying  them,  either,  any  great  compliment.  For  that 
theirs  was  a  very  rash  judgment  a  few  examples  may,  per- 
haps, sufficiently  demonstrate. 

Dr.  Miller  had  asserted  that  Ignatius  represented  presby- 
ters as  standing  in  the  place  of  the  Apostles;  and  among  the 
passages  which  he  had  quoted  to  prove  this,  was  that  portion 
of  the  following  one  which  is  in  italics  : — "  I  exhort  you  that 
you  study  to  do  all  things  in  a  divine  concord;  your  Bishop 
presiding  in  the  place  of  God  ;  ijour  Preshytcnj  in  the  place 
of  the  council  of  Apostles  ;  and  your  Deacons  most  dear  to 
me,  being  entrusted  with  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ."* 
Now,  said  Dr.  Cooke,  "  take  the  whole  together  and  the 
meaning  is  precisely  the  reverse  of  that  which  Dr.  Miller  rep- 
resents it  to  be."-  Could  any  statement  be  more  pal])ably  ab- 
surd than  this  ?  The  only  explanation  of  it  that  can  be  given 

1  Epist.  to  the  Magnesians,  6. 

2  Essay,  19. 

Vol.  II.— 34. 


442  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  3. 

is  that  Dr.  Cooke's  liead  was  so  full  of  the  idea  that  ^'  the 
whole  together''  favoured  Prelacy  in  general,  that  he  forgot 
that  the  simple  assertion  of  Dr.  Miller  was,  that  Ignatius 
represented  Presbyters  as  in  the  place  of  the  Apostles. 

Other  passages  quoted  by  Dr.  Miller,  to  prove  the  same 
thing,  were  the  italic  portions  of  the  following  : — "i/i  like 
manne?'  let  all  revererice  the  Deacons  as  Jesus  Clunst ;  and 
the  Bishop  as  the  Father  ;  and  the  Presbyters  as  the  San- 
hedrin  of  Grod,  and  college  of  the  Apostles.  Without  these 
there  is  no  Church."^ — "  See  that  ye  a\\  follow  jour  Bishop, 
as  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  ;  and  and  the  Presbytery  as  the 
Apostles.'"^  In  regard  to  the  former  of  these  passages  Dr. 
Cooke  says,  "  It  must  be  remembered,  that  Dr.  Miller  is  con- 
tending for  the  Presbyterian  doctrine,  that  there  is  but  one 
order  of  ministers^  and  that  this  order,  viz.  the  Presbyters, 
are  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  etc."  Was  there  ever  a 
more  lamentable  confusion  of  ideas  ?  Dr.  Miller  was  con- 
tending simply,  that  Ignatius  represented  presbyters  as 
standing  in  the  place  of  the  apostles.  Yet  Dr.  Cooke  goes 
on  to  declare,  "  It  is  evident  that  Dr.  Miller  represents  Ig- 
natius as  meaning  what  he  never  intended  to  say — what  he 
has  not  said — and  the  very  opposite  of  what  he  obviously 
had  repeatedly  said."  In  regard  to  the  other  quotation, 
this  admirable  logician  remarks,  "  Read  the  words  in  italics 
without  the  rest,  and  the  passage  runs  precisely  as  Dr. 
Miller  has  quoted  it ;  and  it  has  to  the  ear,  the  appearance 
of  supporting  his  doctrine.  Read  the  whole  as  Ignatius 
wrote  it,  and  the  conviction  is  irresistible  that  his  meaning 
was  not  what  Dr.  Miller  represented  it  to  be."^ 

These  charges  were  the  more  remarkable,  because,  so  far 
had  he  been  from  withholding  any  substantial  part  of  the 
testimony  of  Ignatius,  that  two  of  the  three  passages  above 
quoted,  with  a  number  of  others  of  the  same  purport,  to 
the  extent  of  between  three  and  four  pages,  and  even  more 
fully  than  Dr.  Cooke  asserted  that  they  should  have  been 
copied.  Dr.  Miller  had  given,^  under  another  head,  to  which 
they  appropriately  belonged.  Surely  it  is  passing  strange, 
that,  on  such  grounds,  and  under  such  a  leader,  with  others 

1  Epist.  to  the  Trallian?,  3.  '  Essay,  20,  21. 

2  Epist.  to  the  Smyrneans,  8,  ^1  Letters  on  the  Ministry,  141-1-44. 


1841.]  CORRESPONDENCE    iVND    DIARY.  -143 

like  him,  he  shoiikl  have  been  proclaimed,  all  over  the  land, 
with  a  pertinacity  that  knew  no  relenting,  a  garhler  of  (Ro- 
tations, guilty  of  willfully  perverting  the  Fathers  and 
other  authors.  And  no  less  strange  is  it,  that  the  Essays 
of  Dr.  Cooke  should  have  been  republished  by  the  "New 
York  Protestant  Episcopal  Press,"  as  a  standing  refutation 
and  condemnation  of  Dr.  Miller. 

But  how  could  the  latter,  it  was  asked,  after  maintainino- 
that  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius  had  been  interpolated  to  fa° 
vour  Prelacy,  insist  tliat  they  actually  gave  support  to 
Presbyterian  parity  ?  The  sufficient  though  brief  reply  is, 
that  the  interpolations  were  so  awkwardly  made,  and  es- 
pecially were,  in  their  prelatical  sense,  so  inconsistent  with 
other  parts  of  the  Epistles — the  genuine  parts,  if  any  were 
genuine — that,  interpreted  by  the  latter,  they  describe 
but  a  parochial  Episcopacy — that  is  Presbyterianism. 

4.     Correspondence  and  Diary. 

Mrs.  Miller  wrote  to  one  of  her  sons,  on  the  17th  of 
March,  1841, 

'Your  father  married  a  couple,  in  the  poorer  walks  of  life,  the 
other  evening,  and  he  could  not  evade  taking  a  small  fee,  which, 
however,  he  has  determined  to  make  useful  to  the  groom  and 
his  family.  I  should  be  glad,  therefore,  as  he  has  refjuested  me 
to  set  my  wits  to  work  for  this  purpose,  if  you  would  obtain  for 
me  a  Bible,  neatly  bound,  of  the  size  which  your  father  general- 
ly reads  in  the  family,  for  about  two  dollars,  and  a  Psalm  and 
Hymn  book,  of  an  extra  size,  and  the  last  edition,  for  al)out 
one,  or  one  and  a  half,  and  either  send  or  bring  them  as  soon 
as  possible,  as  the  money  has  lain  in  an  unproductive  state  too 
long  already.' 

In  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Murray^  of  the  10th  of 
May,  1841,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

*I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  aid  you"  on  the  occasion  re- 
ferred to;  but  it  is  impossible.  I  have  been  all  winter  very 
infirm,  every  few  days  (I  had  almost  said  every  few  hours)  sus- 
taining attacks  which  convince  me  that  I  ouirht,  as  far  as  |)os- 
sible,  to  keep  close  to  my  own  dwelling,  and  to  that  caivful 
counsellor  and  nurse,  who  feels  as  if  she  had  some  interest,  in 
keeping  her  old  husband  as  long  as  she  can.' 

The  following  is  from  his  diary. 

1  Afterwards  D.D. 


444  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  4. 

'June  5,  1841.  This  is  the  anniversary  of  my  ordination.  I 
can  never  call  to  mind  that  event,  without  mingled  emotions  of 
gratitude  and  humiliation.     *     * 

*  I  have  been  led  to-day,  by  certain  circumstances,  to  review 
some  parts  of  my  "Letters  to  Presbyterians,"  published  in 
1833.  I  do  not  regret  the  publication  of  that  volume,  on  the 
whole.  A  large  part  of  it  I  still  cordially  approve.  But  I 
cannot  now  review,  without  regret,  some  portion  of  what  is 
there  said  respecting  "  Voluntary  Associations."  I  am  still  of 
the  opinion,  as  I  then  was,  that  some  voluntary  associations, 
such  as  the  American  Bible  Society,  the-  American  Tract  Soci- 
ety, the  x^merican  Temperance  Society,  etc.,  may  be  safely  and 
very  profitably  encouraged.  I  can  by  no  means  join  in  that 
crusade  against  all  such  associations,  which  good  men  have  en- 
deavoured, within  a  few  years  past,  zealously  to  organize.  I 
feel  quite  willing,  nay,  solemnly  bound,  to  countenance  every 
voluntary  association,  which  promises  to  do  good-,  without  in- 
volving any  compromise  of  principle,  and  forming  any  engine, 
outside  of  the  Church,  for  controlling  and  governing  it. 

'  But  I  am  now  more  fully  convinced  than  I  was,  at  the  date 
of  those  "  Letters,"  that  voluntary  associations  for  conducting 
domestic  missions  and  for  educating  young  men  for  the  holy  minis- 
try, ought  never  to  be  encouraged  by  those  who  prize  the  purity 
and  peace  of  the  Church.  They  constitute  a  machinery,  by 
which  men  out  of  the  Church,  and  not  responsible  to  her,  may 
enter  her  pale,  govern  her  affairs,  and  corrupt  and  control  her 
ministry.  I  am  now  satisfied  that  the  partial  concessions  which 
I  made,  in  my  letters  on  that  subject,  in  favor  of  voluntary  as- 
sociations for  such  purposes,  were  neither  wise  nor  safe.  I  am 
perfectly  persuaded,  that  it  may  be  laid  down  as  an  un- 
qualified rule,  that  no  voluntar)'-  association  ought  ever  to  be 
countenanced,  which  enables  men  who  have  no  responsibility  to 
the  Church,  to  interfere  with  or  govern  her  affairs.' 

The  next  extract  is  from  a  letter,  dated  the  15th  of  June, 
to  Mrs.  Susan  F.  Ledyard,  at  the  time  in  Paris. 

*  I  think  it  my  duty  to  say,  that  the  address  of  General  Cass, 
at  the  meeting  occasioned  by  the  death  of  President  Harrison, 
greatly  delighted  me.  It  does  equal  honor  to  its  author,  to  the 
memory  of  his  illustrious  deceased  friend,  and  to  our  country. 
That  address,  more  than  anything  else  I  ever  saw  from  his  pen, 
has  excited  in  me  a  desire  to  know  him  personally.  This  grati- 
fication, however,  it  is  not  now  likely  I  shall  ever  enjoy.  I 
know  not  how  he  regards  that  Saviour  who  is  my  only  confi- 
dence, and  with  whom  I  hope  to  dwell  forever;  nor  what  his 


1841.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  445 

views  may  be  of  that  great  futurity  which  is  soon  to  open  upon 
us  all.  I  will  cherish  the  hope/that  he  will  be  found,  in  the 
§reat  day  of  trial,  resting  on  "  the  foundation  of  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone;" and  that  we  may  meet,  if  not  here,  in  a  more  holy  and 
happy  world.' 

In  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Publication,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1841,  Dr.  Miller  says, 

'My  health  is  now  tolerably  good;  but  the  infirmities  of  age 
are  making  a  degree  of  progress  which  renders  the  lal)or  of 
writing  more  oppressive  than  formerly.  Still,  I  am  not  without 
some  new  works  in  hand  and  in  purpose,  which  I  wish  to  fin- 
ish, if  it  shall  please  God  to  spare  my  life  a  little  longer.  My 
creed  is,  that  every  servant  of  Christ  ought  to  be  found  la])or- 
ing  in  his  vocation  to  his  last  breath.  I  wish  for  no  vacations 
in  this  labor.' 

On  the  4th  of  Au;];ust,  Dr.  John  Breckinridire  died  at 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  In  1840,  he  had  married  ^lary 
Ann,  daughter  of  Colonel  Babcock,  of  Stonington,  who, 
with  one  child  of  her  own,  and  three  of  Dr.  Miller's  grand- 
children, survived  him.  "  One  of  the  last  sentences  that 
he  uttered  was — "  I  am  a  poor  sinner  who  have  worked 
hard,  and  had  constantly  before  my  mind  one  great  object 
— the  conversion  of  the  world. "^ 

Another  extract  from  the  diary  is  as  follows  : — 

*  August  24,  1841.  This  day  I  have  set  apart  as  a  season  of 
special  prayer  and  fasting,  on  account  of  the  low  state  of  reli- 
gion in  our  church  in  this  place,  and  most  of  our  neighbouring 
churches ;  and  to  implore  the  etiusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
us  in  our  low  and  perishing  condition.      *     ^' 

'O  my  God!  when  I  reflect  upon  the  moral  desolation  which 
surrounds  me,  and  mourn  over  the  awful  delinquency  and  cor- 
ruption of  the  church  with  which  I  am  connected,  these  solemn 
questions  occur  to  my  mind: — *What  influence  has  my  cold- 
ness and  want  of  zeal  and  fidelity  had  in -leading  to  this  dark 
and  distressing  state  of  things?  How  far  have  I  contributed  to 
the  evil  ?  How  far  have  I  stood  in  the  way  of  a  blessing  ?'  O 
thou  heart-searching  God  !  help  me  to  answer  these  questions 
honestly,  candidly,  impartially  ;  and,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
hitherto  criminal,  to  be  so  no  more.  And  help  me,  under  a 
consciousness  of  all  my  sins  and  shortcomings,  to  fly  to  that 
fountain  which  is  open  for  sin  and  uncleanness.     Oh,  that  ray 

1  4  Sprague's  Annals,  646. 


446  OLD   AGE.  [CH.  39.  4. 

faith  may  be  increased  ;  my  love  and  zeal  inflamed  ;  and  my 
diligence  in  every  ^ood  word  and  work  made  more  persevering 
and  exemplary  !  Oh,  that  I  may  be  taught  by  the  Spirit,  led 
by  the  Spirit,  and  enabled  to  live  to  the  praise  of  my  Master's 
glory !' 

To  Edward  C.  Delevan,  Esquire,  of  Albany,  the  distin- 
guished advocate  of  Temperance,  the  following  letter 
was  addressed. 

'My  dear  Sir,  Princeton,  September  29,  1841. 

'  *  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  total  abstinence  from 
all  that  intoxicates  for  more  than  ten  years  past.  I  never  set 
on  my  table  alcoholic  or  fermented  drinks  of  any  kind  ;  and 
lose  no  opportunity  of  exhorting  every  person  whom  I  have  oc- 
casion to  address  [on  the  subject]  to  pursue  the  same  course 
with  myself  So  far,  I  am  entirely  agreed  with  you,  and  the 
other  friends  with  whom  you  cooperate. 

'  But,  my  dear  Sir,  I  entirely  differ  from  you  in  regard  to 
the  principles  and  the  reasoning  by  which  you  attempt  to  en- 
force your  total  abstinence  system.  You,  and  those  who  act 
with  you,  maintain,  if  I  understand  you,  that  all  use  of  fer- 
mented wine  is,  in  itself,  sinful  ;  that  the  Scriptures  never 
speak  with  approbation  of  the  use  of  such  wine  ;  that  our 
blessed  Saviour  never  encouraged  or  allowed  the  use  of  it ;  that 
the  law  which  prohibited  the  use  of  leaven,  at  the  feast  of  the 
passover,  included  the  prohibition  of  all  fermented  liquors  ; 
that  wine  which  could  produce  intoxication  was  not  allowed  at 
any  of  the  Jewish  festivals ;  and  that  fermented  wine  cannot 
be  used  at  the  Lord's  table  without  sin.  I  am  conscientiously 
persuaded  that  all  these  allegations  are  wholly  incorrect  ;  and 
that  those  who  adopt  and  urge  them  misinterpret  and  pervert 
Holy  Scripture  ;  pour  dishonour  on  the  character  and  exam- 
ple of  the  Saviour  ;  and  pursue  a  course  adapted  to  break  the 
peace  of  the  Church. 

*  I  am  disposed  to  sustain  the  cause  of  total  abstinence  upon 
different  principles,  and  by  a  very  different  train  of  reasoning. 
When  I  see  the  abounding  and  immeasurable  mischiefs  every 
day  resulting  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  I  feel  my- 
self bound  to  discourage  that  use  by  all  the  scriptural  means 
in  my  power.  In  doing  this,  I  cannot  think  it  safe  to  be  wiser 
than  God  ;  or  to  accuse  the  all-wise  and  almighty  Redeemer  of 
mistake  or  want  of  knowledge.  I  can,  therefore,  by  no  means, 
countenance  the  doctrine  concerning  sacramental  wine  which  I 
suppose  to  be  implied  in  your  letter.  I  think  it  highly  pre- 
sumptuous and  opposed  to  the  authority  of  Christ.  Yet,  if  any- 
one will  place  and  enforce  the  doctrine  of  total  abstinence  on 


1841.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  417 

the  ground  of  christian  expediency ;  if  he  will  say  and  practice, 
Avith  the  Apostle  Paul,  (Romans  14,  21,)  "It  is  good  neither  to 
eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  anything  whereby  my  brother 
stumbleth,  or  is  offended  or  is  made  weak;"  and,  again,  (1  Cor- 
inthians 8,  13,)  "  If  meat  [wine]  make  my  brother  to  oti'end, 
(or,  stumble,)  I  will  eat  no  meat  [drink  no  wine.]  while  the 
world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend  ;"  I  will  hail 
him  as  a  friend  and  brother,  and  coiJperatc  with  him  with  all 
my  heart. 

'  I  am  aware,  my  dear  Sir,  that  my  view  of  th's  subject  will 
be  utterly  repudiated  by  you,  and,  perhaps,  loaded  with  cen- 
sure. We  cannot  both  be  right.  JNIay  God  forgive  him  who  is 
in  error  !     With  great  respect,  I  am, 

'  Sincerely,  your  friend, 
'  Sam'l  Miller.' 

The  following  is  from  the  diary. 

'  October  31,  1841.  This  day  I  have  completed  the  seventy- 
second  year  of  my  age.  ^'  *  By  the  favour  of  a  kind 
Providence,  my  health  has  been  considerably  better  than  it  was 
last  year.  I  have  enjoyed  animal  life  more  ;  and  have  some- 
times ventured  to  hope,  that  my  spiritual  prosperity  has  been, 
on  the  whole,  greater.  Glory  be  to  God  for  this  inestimable 
benefit!  If  I  have  experienced  some  spiritual  growth  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  I  have  also  had  a  new  testimony  of  the  de- 
ceitfulness  and  pollution  of  my  own  heart,  and,  of  course,  in- 
creasing reason  to  lie  in  the  dust  before  God,  and  to  give  to  him 
all  the  praise  of  every  attainment.' 

The  followinor  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Nicholas 
Murray,  of  Elizabeth.    . 

'My  dear  Brother,  Princeton,  December  16,  1841. 

'Mrs.  Miller  and  myself,  with  our  whole  hearts,  sym- 
pathize with  you  and  your  excellent  companion  in  your  late 
bereavement.  We  had  heard  of  the  illness  and  death  ot*  your 
beloved  boy  before  the  arrival  of  your  letter.  We  know  how 
to  feel  for  you.  Oar  first-born  son,  nearly  of  the  same  age,  was 
taken  froni  us  almost  thirty  years  ago.  We  found  it  hard  to 
say  from  the  heart,  "The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hatli  taken 
away;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Yet,  I  hope,  we 
were  enabled,  in  some  degree  to  say  it  sincerely.  And,  now, 
when  we  think  that  that  dear  boy  has  gone  before  us  to  glory; 
that  he  escaped  the  toils  and  sorrows  of  this  corrupt  and  en- 
snaring world;  and  that  he  is  now  far  above  us  in  knowledge, 
and  in'^conformity  to  him  who  loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for 


448  OLD  AGE.  [cii.  39.  4. 

us:  I  trust  we  can  more  than  acquiesce  in  the  divine  will;  that 
we  can  cordially  rejoice  that  our  beloved  Edward  is  infinitely 
better  off,  than  if  he  had  been  permitted  to  live,  as  we  then 
wished. 

'  I  do  not  expect,  dear  Brother,  to  stoji  your  flowing  tears. 
Nature  will  feel — ought  to  feel;  and  we,  as  well  as  other 
friends,  feel  with  you.  But  is  not  your  dear  son  with  his  and 
your  Father?  Can  you  long  weep,  when  you  recollect  what 
he  has  escaped,  and  what  he  has  gained?  May  the  Lord  pour 
into  your  heart,  and  that  of  your  companion,  those  rich  conso- 
lations which  I  know  you  recognize  and  love ;  but  which,  alas ! 
the  pleadings  of  nature  often  prevent  our  receiving  at  once,  in 
all  their  unsearchable  riches. 

'Dr.  Alexander  sent  your  letter  to  me,  being  himself  under 
an  engagement;  and  his  son  James  not  being  well,  and  also  un- 
der an  engagement.  I  should  be  glad  to  spend  the  next  Sab- 
bath with  you  at  once  to  weep  with  you,  and  to  rejoice  in  hope 
of  glory.  But  my  growing  infirmities,  my  exceedingly  delicate 
health,  and  the  perils  which  now  attend  my  undertaking  any 
such  expedition  at  this  season  of  the  year,  all  conspire  to  forbid 
my  venturing  on  the  journey. 

'  I  am,  my  dear,  afflicted  Brother,  with  sincere  regard  to  you, 
and  Mrs.  Murray, 

'Your  affectionate  brother, 

'  Sam'l  Miller.' 

A  correspondent,  asking  whether  a  licentiate  may  be  a 
ruling  elder,  says,  in  1842,  'For my  own  satisfaction,  as 
well  as  for  that  of  my  friends,  I  refer  to  you  as  the  highest 
authority  on  the  subject  with  which  Ave  are  acquainted.' 

On  the  27th  of  September,  the  Hon.  John  Sergeant 
wrote, 

'  The  so  called  Presbyterian  cause  was  finally  ended  to-day, 
being  called  for  trial  and  discontinued  by  the  relators.  This 
was  a  very  quiet  termination  of  what  had  made  so  much  noise- 
in  its  commencement  and  progress.  Looking  back  now,  one 
has  reason  to  rejoice  that  they  took  the  violent  step  of  sepa- 
ration. If  they  had  remained,  there  would  have  been  no 
peace.' 

The  following  is  from  the  diary. 

'October  31,1842.  This  is  my  hirth-day.  On  this  clay  I 
complete  my  seventy-third  year.  Surely  self-recollection  and 
special  prayer  become  the  day. 

'  During  the  last  year  I  have  had  many  mercies  to  record. 


1842.]  CORRESPOXDENCE   AND    DIARY.  449 

My  health  has  been,  by  the  goodness  of  God,  considerably  bet- 
ter than  for  several  preceding  years.  The  health  of  my  family, 
too,  blessed  be  his  name,  has  been  without  serious  interru|)- 
tion.  "^  *  Some  precious  spiritual  blessings  have  been  im- 
parted to  me  and  my  beloved  partner.  For  all  these  favors  I 
would  this  day  record  my  gratitude. 

'But  I  would  notice,  with  peculiar  acknowledgment,  one 
favor,  since  my  last  birth-day,  for  which  I  feel  as  if  I  could 
never  be  sufficiently  thankful.  My  son  "*'  *  was,  as  we 
hope,  in  the  course  of  the  last  winter,  visited  with  the  awaken- 
ing and  renewing  grace  of  God.  He,  soon  after  cherishing  a 
hope  in  Christ,  united  with  the  Church,  and  resolved  to  devote 
himself  to  the  gospel  ministry.  Accordingly,  in  the  montii  of 
March  last,  he  entered  our  Theological  Seminary,  and  has  been, 
ever  since,  one  of  its  students. 

'For  this  joyful  event  I  desire  to  cjall  upon  my  soul,  and  all 
that  is  within  me,  to  praise  and  magnify  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
i^sothing  could  gratify  me  more  concerning  my  sons,  than  to  see 
them  all  pious,  devoted,  faithful  ministers.  Fortius  I  have  al- 
ways had  an  ardent  desire.     *     "*' 

'May  the  event,  which  I  here  gratefully  commemorate,  re- 
sult in  rich  blessings  to  my  dear  son  himself,  and  also  in  exten- 
sive and  permanent  benefits  to  the  Church  of  God.  If  I  know 
my  own  heart,  my  supreme  desire  is,  not  to  see  him  a  popular 
orator  in  the  pulpit,  but  an  eminently  devoted  and  useful  am- 
bassador of  Christ.  Oh,  if  I  could  see  realized  in  him  the 
character  given  of  a  faithful  minister  of  old, — "  He  was  a  good 
man,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith ;  and  much  peo- 
ple were  added  unto  the  Lord," — ray  joy,  as  to  this  point,  would 
be  full.     The  Lord  grant  it  for  Christ's  sake!  Amen!' 

Dr.  Miller  always  spoke  humbly  of  his  own  performan- 
ces, if  he  spoke  of  them  at  all;  which  he  did  rarely,  and 
alone  when  necessity  seemed  to  be  laid  upon  liim.  To  take 
any  title  of  honour  to  himself,  in  cither  writingor  speaking, 
unless  upon  the  title-page  of  a  book,  was  contrary  to  his 
taste  and  his  every  instinct.  If  he  put  a  notice  on  the 
posting-board  at  the  Seminary  for  his  class,  it  would  gen- 
erally run,  "S.  Miller  gives  notice,  etc."  Fnsliion  and 
custom  certainly  justify  a  man's  using  his  own  titles  to  desig- 
nate himself — a  fashion  no  doubt  founded  in  the  conve- 
nience of  knowinor  just  who  and  what  a  person  self-announced 
is.  But  probably  the  purest  taste,  and  the  most  refined 
Christian  simplicity  are  opposed,  in  this  respect,  to  custom 


450  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  4. 

and  fashion.     At  least  Dr.  Miller    seems  so  to   have  con- 
cluded. 

He  was  very  scrupulous  in  not  claiming  as  his  own  the 
thoughts  or  learning  of  others.  In  public  speaking,  or  in 
what  he  committed  to  the  press,  he  was  unusually  careful 
to  disclaim  whatever  he  had  borrowed.  He  seldom  pro- 
pounded a  critical  judgment  without  adding,  ••'  as  the 
learned  tell  us,"  or  the  like.  Plagiarism  he  heartily  de- 
spised, and  sometimes  felt  called  upon  pointedly  to  condemn. 
His  every  habit  of  thought  and  feeling  was  so  obviously  op- 
posed to  it,  that  all  who  knew  him  well  felt  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  descend  to  such  dishonesty.  On  this 
subject  he  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Rev.  Nathan  Hoyt,  D.D., 
of  Athens,  Georgia,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1842: — 

'  It  has* always  been  my  aim,  in  my  Lectures  on  sermonizing,  to 
express  the  strongest  disapprobation  of  plagiarism  in  every  form, 
as  basely  deceptive  and  mean,  as  really  immoral  in  its  char- 
acter, and  as  calculated  to  injure  both  the  man  who  practises  it, 
and,  ultimately,  if  he  be  a  minister,  those  who  attend  upon  his 
ministrations. 

'  When  I  have  been  asked  what  plagarism  is,  I  have  uni- 
formly answered  that  it  is  not  easy,  in  all  cases,  to  draw  the 
line.  On  all  the  great  leading  subjects  of  pulpit  instruction, 
there  is  a  large  mass  of  common-place  ideas,  which  have  been 
repeated  by  successive  writers  for  hundreds  of  years  past.  He 
who  in  preaching  on  Faith  and  Repentance ;  on  Justification 
and  Sanctification ;  on  Christian  hope,  and  Eternal  blessed- 
ness, should  resolve  to  say  nothing,  but  what  was  strictly  origi- 
nal with  himself;  nothing  that  had  ever  been  expressed,  even 
in  substance,  by  any  one  before,  would  certainly  never  be  able 
to  preach  at  all. — In  this  sense,  no  man,  however  great  his  tal- 
ents or  his  learning,  can  hope  to  be  regarded  as  an  original  at 
the  present  day. 

'  If  a  preacher  w^ere  about  to  prepare  a  sermon  on  the  doctrine 
of  Original  sin,  or  on  the  doctrine  of  Atonement,  and  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  were  carefully  to  read  over  President  Edwards' 
treatise  on  the  former  subject,  and  Mr.  Symington's  on  the  lat- 
ter, and  were  then  to  compose  his  sermons  on  those  subjects  re- 
spectively in  strict  conformity  with  the  treatises  just  mentioned, 
but  in  his  own  language  throughout,  I  should  not  charge  him 
with  plagiarism.  The  substance  would  in  this  case  be  bor- 
rowed, but  the  style,  the  form,  would  be  all  his  own.  I  do  not 
know  that  there  is  in  either  of  those  books  a  single  truth  which 


1842.]  CORRESPONDENCE   AND    DIARY.  451 

had  not  been  substantially  set  forth  by  preceding  ^vriters  ;  but 
there  is  in  each  of  them  a  clearness,  a  force,  and  an  ani])litude 
of  illustration  which  render  their  works  respectively  of  great 
value. 

'But  I  have  always  denounced  as  plagiarism  in  the  true 
and  proper  sense  of  that  word  any  of  the  following  practices, 
viz. : — 

'  I.  When  a  writer  or  speaker  delivers,  as  his  own,  the  whole, 
or  the  greater  part  of  the  work  of  another,  in  the  language  of 
the  original  writer.  This  is  the  most  gross  and  shameful  lorm 
of  the  offence. 

*  II.  When  a  writer  or  speaker  copies  the  ivhole  plan  of  an- 
other, adopting  his  divisions,  his  subdivisions,  and  in  the  main, 
his  whole  arrangement,  making  only  some  trivial  altera- 
tion here  and  there  in  the  style  and  minuter  details,  for  the  sake 
of  avoiding  the  charge  of  being  a  servile  copyist.  Such 
a  person  deserves  to  be  called  a  plagiarist.  He  is  nothing  but 
an  humble  retailer  of  the  thoughts  and  language  of  others. 

'III.  He  who  allows  himself  to  copy  verhathn  even  a  sinrjlepar- 
ap'7-a;;/i,  without  acknowledgment,  exposes  himself  to  the  charge 
of  plagiarism.  One  who  means  to  be  strictly  delicate  and  ac- 
curate on  this  subject,  will  never  copy  the  very  words  of  an- 
other without  advertising  his  hearers  or  readers  of  the  fact,  by 
saying  as  he  passes  along,  "  to  use  the  language  of  another,''  or, 
"  in  the  language  of  an  elegant  writer,"  etc.  I  would  certainly 
advise  that  this  be  done,  even  if  the  quotation  extend  only  to 
a  single  sentence. 

'IV.  If  a  thought  be  very  striking  and  original,  I  would  not 
allow  myself  to  adopt  it  without  acknowledgment,  even  if  it 
were  expressed  in  my  own  language.  It  were  easy  to  select 
some  remarkably  beautiful  thoughts  from  Bacon,  from  Milton, 
or  other  great  Masters  of  sentiment  and  diction,  which  so  ex- 
clusively belong  to  them,  that  it  were  great  injustice  to  repeat 
any  of  them  without  tracing  the  property  to  its  right  owner, 
either  by  directly  naming  him,  or  acknowledging,  in  some  way, 
that  they  do  not  belong  to  him  who  quotes  them. 

'  I  have  sometimes  advised  my  pupils,  wlienever  they  hear  ser- 
mons which  exhibit  a  very  strihiufj  or  liappy  ])lan,  to  make 
a  record  of  it,  and  have  suggested  to  them  that,  although  copy- 
ing the  plan  or  plans  thus  recorded,  on  the  same  texts,  or  even 
when  treating  the  same  sul)jects,  would  be  plagiarism,  yet  that 
to  a  watchful,  active  mind,  looking  out  for  analogies  and  relations, 
a  hapjfij  plan  on  one  subject  may  suggest  a  still  more  hapj)y  one 
on  an  allied  subject,  or  even  on  one  very  remote  at  first  view. 

'  I  have  never  given  any  advice  or  counsel  difierent  from  what 
I  have  above  stated.     If ']Mr. makes  any  different  rep  re- 


452  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  4. 

sentation,  he  misunderstood  and  misrepresents  me.  Yet  I  can 
easily  imagine  how  he  might  have  misapprehended  my  sugges- 
tion stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph  respecting  striking  plans 
of  sermons.  By  a  little  inadvertence,  he  might  have  supposed 
me  to  mean  that  such  plans  might  with  propriety  be  used,  when 
preaching  afterwards  on  the  same  texts.     *         * 

'  P.  S.  You  might  perhaps  expect  me  to  enter  more  largely 
and  minutely  into  the  doctrine  of  Plagiarism  in  all  its  rami- 
fications. But  I  have  written  as  much  as  a  man  in  the  74th 
year  of  his  age,  and  with  my  pressing  avocations,  can  well 
afford  to  write.     You  must  excuse  me  for  not  going  further. 

'  Though  this  is  written  in  haste,  (as  lam  obliged  to  write  every- 
thing,) you  are  at  liberty  to  make  what  use  of  it  you  think 
proper.' 

In  a  letter  of  March  28,  1843,  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  J. 
Cassels,  of  Norfolk,  Virginia,  Dr.  Miller  offered  the  follow- 
ing familiar,  but  not  on  that  account,  less  important  sugges- 
tions for  conductinor  domestic  missions. 

*  1.  While  our  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  acts  wisely  in 
directing  its  principal  efforts  to  the  formation  and  aid  of  organ- 
ized churches,  it  evidently  will  not  do,  by  any  means,  to  aban- 
don the  plan  of  employing  itinerant  evangelists.  There  are 
many  destitute  neighborhoods,  in  which  churches  cannot  be  im- 
mediately, or  even  speedily,  formed,  and  which,  of  course,  can 
be  supplied  with  the  gospel  only  by  itinerant  preachers.  Our 
Methodist  brethren  set  us  a  laudable  example  in  this  respect ; 
and  we  can  never  do  justice  to  either  the  great  cause  of  Christ, 
or  to  the  cause  of  Presbyterianism,  until  we,  in  some  measure, 
imitate  that  example. 

'  2.  If  the  Synod,  as  such,  should  be  the  acting  body  in  this 
case,  it  ought  to  employ  as  many  missionaries  as  it  can  find  and 
support.  Yet,  probably,  it  will  be  judged  best,  to  let  the  sev- 
eral presbyteries  of  which  the  Synod  is  composed,  have 
something  to  do  in  planning,  supervising,  and  managing  the 
movements  of  such  as  labour  within  their  respective  limits. 
Each  presbytery  will,  of  course,  know  its  own  destitutions  most 
intimately,  and  be  best  qualified  to  advise  and  prescribe  in  re- 
gard to  the  labour  of  each.  And  the  churches  within  the 
bounds  of  the  several  presbyteries  may  be  expected  to  take  a 
deeper  interest  in  what  is  doing  in  their  own  borders,  than  in 
remote  regions. 

'3.  While  apian  of  constant  itinerancy  is  pursued,»it  will 
probably  be  found  best  to  make  that  itinerancy  systematic  ; 
that  is,  like  our  Methodist  brethren,  to  form  regular  circuits,  in 


1843.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND   DIARY.  453 

which  the  preachers  shall  come  round  at  appointed  times.  The 
more  frequently  particular  localities  are  visited  and  the  more 
regular  the  appointments,  the  more  likely  will  the  people  be  to 
become  interested  in  the  men  employed,  and  in  their  labours  ; 
and,  in  the  end,  to  become  prepared  i'or  the  building  up  of  or- 
ganized churches.  In  arranging  circuits,  it  will,  of  course,  oc- 
cur to  you,  that  most  time  should  be  si)ent,  and  most  labour  be- 
stowed, in  districts  embracing  the  fullest  p<^pulation,  and  most 
likely  to  furnish  results  in  the  organization  of  churches.  *     * 

'5.  If  I  may  be  allowed  respectfully  to  make  the  suggestion, 
our  beloved  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  General  As- 
sembly ought  to  be  recognized  and  honored  in  the  whole  of  this 
matter;  that  is,  the  missionaries  employed  ought  to  be  commis- 
sioned, in  the  usual  way,  by  that  Board  ;  the  funds  collected  for 
their  support  ought  to  be  reported,  in  some  way,  to  the  treasury 
in  Philaclelphia;  and  the  whole  business  so  done,  as  to  come 
into  the  minutes  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  make  a  part 
of  their  report  to  the  General  Assembly.  This  appears  to  me 
to  be  due  to  the  parent  Board,  and  adapted  to  make  the  best 
impression  and  do  the  most  good  throughout  the  whole 
Church. 

'  6.  The  missionaries  sent  out  ought  to  be  charged  to  preach, 
in  a  faithful  and  discriminating  manner,  in  regard  to  doc- 
trine as  well  as  experience.  Presbyterian  preachers  are  never 
so  likely  to  be  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the 
building  up  of  believers,  as  when  they  dwell  intelligently  and 
affectionately  on  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gospel ;  not  in  a 
polemical  spirit,  but  in  clearness  and  power.  If  I  were  to  speak 
of  any  sermons  as  a  model  of  what  I  should  wish  to  have 
preached  by  every  missionary  whom  you  send  forth,  I  should 
say  that  your  own  lamented  Davies  had  furnished  the  best  hu- 
man pattern.  I  mention  this,  because  our  Methodist  brethren, 
as  you  well  know,  are  everywhere  crying  out,  in  all  their  pul- 
pits, against  our  Confession  of  Faith,  and  against  Calvinism,  as 
a  "doctrine  of  devils."  I  would  never  recriminate  by  reviling 
them,  or  by  denouncing  their  doctrines,  but  by  plainly,  faith- 
fully, and  discriminatingly  preaching  my  own. 

'  7.  Could  not  some  of  your  settled  pastors,  most  robust  in 
body  and  zealous  in  spirit,  spare  a  Sabl)ath  or  two  from  their  re- 
spective charges,  and  go  forth  to  countenance  the  missionaries, 
and  aid  them  in  their  work?  More  especially,  could  not  this  be 
done  in  regard  to  some  of  the  more  important  points  in  the 
several  circuits?  I  merely  mention  this  as  a  matter  not  likely 
to  be  allowable  to  any  great  extent,  but  which  may  furnish  one 
of  the  elements  of  the  system. 

'  8.  Every  missionary   ought  to  be,  ex  officio,  a  distributor  of 


454  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  4. 

the  books  of  the  Board  of  Publication  ;  or,  at  any  rate,  to  take 
measures  for  bringing  those  books  within  the  view  and  reach  of 
the  people.  No  one  can  estimate  how  much  good  might  be 
done  in  this  way  by  a  faithful  and  enterprising  evangelist. 

'  9.  If,  in  addition  to  all  this,  you  can  contrive,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  to  persuade  every  pastor  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  the 
subject ;  to  preach  upon  it  as  often  as  the  nature  of  the  case,  and 
the  claims  of  other  subjects,  will  allow  ;  and  to  take  it  into  the 
pulpit  with  him  in  humble,  importunate  prayer  ;  every  breath 
manifesting  that  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  God  fills  and 
affects  his  own  heart  ;  and  that  he  cannot  "  hold  his  peace,"  or 
forbear  to  press  the  subject  whenever  he  has  an  opportunity  ; 
you  will  accomplish  a  crowning  matter.  Alas  !  a  defect  here  is 
one  of  the  most  crying  delinquencies  of  our  beloved  brethren  in 
the  ministry. 

*  *  '  I  read  your  letter,  my  dear  Brother,  to  my  respected  and 
beloved  colleagues.  You  may  consider  the  above  as  embodying 
their  opinions  as  well  as  my  own.  I  ought,  however,  in  candor 
to  §ay,  that  only  the  items  first,  third,  and  fifth  were  explicitly 
conversed  upon  and  sanctioned  by  them.' 

Here  is  another  passage  from  the  diary:  — 

*  June  5, 1843.  This  day  is  the  anniversary  of  my  ordination^ 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  fifty  years  ago.  I  deem  it  my  privilege 
and  my  duty,  on  the  return  of  the  day,  to  devote  a  few  hours 
to  reflection,  retirement,  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  good- 
ness of  God,  and  deep  humiliation.  That  1  should  have  lived 
to  see  this  day,  in  the  enjoyment  of  so  much  health  and  strength, 
is,  indeed,  matter  of  grateful  wonder  to  myself.  My  bodily 
health  and  comfort  have  been  greater  during  the  past  year, 
than  for  several  years  previous.  I  have  been  enabled  to  pur- 
sue all  my  official  duties  as  constantly  and  punctually,  and 
with  nearly  as  much  strength,  as  ever.  I  appear  to  myself  to 
preach  and  lecture  with  quite  as  little  fatigue  as  at  almost  any 
time  past.  And  the  last  year  has  been  crowned  with  so  many 
mercies,  personal,  domestic,  and  official,  that  I  feel  bound  here, 
with  humble  gratitude,  to  record  my  thanksgiving  and  praise; 
and  to  say,  under  a  sense  of  my  deep  obligation,  "I  will  bless 
the  Lord  at  all  times :  his  praise  shall  continually  be  in  my 
mouth." 

'I  did  not  expect,  ten  or  twenty  years  ago,  to  see  this  day. 
It  is  only  because  I  have  obtained  help  of  God,  that  I  continue  to 
the  present  time.  Oh,  that  my  spared  life  and  health  might  be  more 
faithfully  than  ever  devoted  to  the  God  of  all  my  mercies!  "^  * 

'  It  has  been  suggested  to  me,  that  on  this  fiftieth  anniversary  of 


1843.]  PUBLICATIONS.  455 

my  ordination  to  the  work  of  the  gos])el  ministry,  it  wouhl  l)e 
seasonable,  and  somewhat  interesting  to  me,  to  my  iiiniily,  and, 
perhaps,  to  a  few  friends,  to  celebrate  the  day.  "  Such  a  cele- 
bration might,  indeed,  minister  to  some  of  the  feelings  of  my 
nature.  But  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  it.  Instead  of  ob- 
serving it  as  a  festal  day,  I  would  much  rather  observe  it  as  a 
day  of  humiliation  and  mourning.  Instead  of  firing  a  noisy 
salute,  as  over  some  triumph,  I  would  nmch  rather  be  silent, 
and  humble  myself,  in  secret,  before  God,  that  during  fifty 
years  of  evangelical  ministry,  I  have  done  so  little  for  the  best 
of  ^Masters;  accomplished  so  little  for  the  benefit  of  my  genera- 
tion ;  enjoyed  so  little  communion  with  him  whose  servant  I 
have  professed  to  be.  Let  me  retire  and  weep,  in  secret  places, 
over  what  appears  to  me  rather  fifty  years  of  de})loral)le  moral 
waste,  than  a  course  of  happy  attainment  or  triumph,  to  be  re- 
joiced at,  or  celebrated  with  festive  memorials.  Much  rather 
would  I  fast  before  the  Lord,  because  I  have  so  few  triumphs 
of  grace,  to  rejoice  over,  in  so  long  a  tract  of  time.  O  I^ord, 
pardon  the  weakness,  the  unfaithfulness  and  the  unfruitfulness 
of  thv  servant;  and  give  him  grace,  in  time  to  come,  to  gird  up 
the  loins  of  his  mind,  to  be  sober  and  watch  unto  prayer.  *  * 

'  O  Lord,  I  would,  this  morning,  make  a  new  and  unreserved 
dedication  of  myself  to  thee.     *     *  ' 

5.  Publications. 

During  the  year  1842,  Dr.  Miller  contributed  a  series  of 
six  articles  to  The  Presbyterian,^  upon  the  right  of  ruling- 
elders  to  lay  on  hands,  with  ministers,  in  the  ordination  of 
ministers.  This  practice,  it  was  said,  had  been  actually 
introduced  into  two  presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky.  The  first  of  these  articles  was  signed  "  Canon i- 
cus,"  the  others  "Calvin,"  and  discountenanced  the  innova- 
tion. A  writer  in  the  s:ime  paper,  signing  himself  "Pres- 
byter," in  five  articles  published  in  1843,-  reviewed  "Cal- 
vin," taking  the  other  side  of  the  question.  In  the  issue 
of  the  Presbyterian  containing  Dr.  Miner's  first  article,  is 
found  also  an  article  of  his,  signed  "  Clericus,"  upon  "  Li- 
centiates," advising  that  license  should  not  be  given  to 
candidates  for  the  ministry,  according  to  the  present  custom, 
for  an  indefinite  time,  but  for  a  fixed  period  of,  say,  three 
years.     He  thought  one  year  too  short  for  a  fair  trial. 

•  21st  May,  26th  November— 24rh  December. 
2  Uth  and  21st  January.     4th— l>:>th  February. 


456  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  5. 

The  interest  which  Dr.  Miller  had  taken  in  the  Elder- 
ship of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his  repeated  publica- 
tions respecting  its  claims  and  duties,  led  to  a  request  that 
he  would  preach  on  this  subject  in  Philadelphia,  in  1843. 
He  consented,  and  the  sermon  was  published  bj  those  who 
had  requested  its  delivery.^     In  his  preface  he  says, 

"In  the  month  of  March  last,  the  Author  of  the  following 
Discourse  received  a  written  request  from  sixty-Jive  of  the  Euling 
Elders  connected  with  the  churches  of  Philadelphia,  that  he 
would  deliver  in  that  city,  in  the  course  of  the  month  of  May 
ensuing,  and  during  the  Sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  a 
Sermon  on  the  Warrant,  Nature,  and  Duties  of  the  office  of  the 
Ruling  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  was  suggested, 
as  an  argument  in  favour  of  such  a  service,  that  a  plain  and 
abridged  view  of  these  topics  might  reach  and  impress  some 
minds  not  accustomed  or  disposed  to  peruse  larger  works." 

"  With  such  a  request,  coming  from  a  body  of  brethren  so 
eminently  worthy  of  Christian  respect  and  affection,  it  was  im- 
possible for  the  author  to  refuse  compliance.  Although  he  had, 
more  than  ten  years  before,  published  a  larger  work  on  the 
same  subject;  and  although  his  advanced  age  and  growing  in- 
firmities might,  perhaps,  have  warranted  an  apology  for  de- 
clining any  new  service;  yet  he  felt  constrained  not  to  shrink 
from  any  labour,  by  which  any  of  his  brethren  supposed  he 
might  do  some  good,  however  small,  to  the  Church  of  God."^ 

During  this  year  Dr.  Miller  also  published  his  Letters  to 
his  Sons  in  College.^ 

This  work  touches,  in  as  many  chapters,  upon  the  several 
subjects  of  "Obedience  to  the  Laws;"  "Manners;" 
"Morals;"  "Religion;"  "Rebellions;"  "Health;"  "Tem- 
perance;" "Formation  and  Value  of  Character;"  "Pa- 
triotism;" "Particular  Studies;"  "General  Reading;" 
"Attention,  Diligence;"  "Associations,  Friendships;" 
"Literary  Societies  in  College;"  "Dress;"  "Care  of 
the  Student's  Room;"  "Expenses;"  "Alma  Mater;" 
"Parents;"     and    "Vacations;"     a   few    "Miscellaneous 

1  "The  Warrant,  Nature,  and  Duties  of  the  Office  of  the  Ruling  Elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  :  a  Sermon  preached  in  Philadelphia,  May  22,  1S43,  with  an 
Ap[)endix.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminar}^  at 
Princeton.     Philadelphia:  1844."—!  Timothy  v.  17.— 18mo.  Pp.  iv.  and  166. 

2  Pp.  iii.  i\ . 

"^  "  Letters  from  a  Father  to  his  Sons  in  College.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  1843." — 12mo. 
Pp.  344. 


1843.]  CORRESPONDENCE   AND   DIARY.  457 

Thoughts"  being  added.  The  volume  is  dedicated  ''To 
every  Parent  who  has  a  son  in  college ;  and  to  every  Son 
who  is  placed  in  that  interesting  and  responsible  situation." 
An  "Advertisement"  says, 

"The  writer  of  this  volume  has  had  five  sons  trained  and 
graduated  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  The  following  Letters, 
not,  indeed,  precisely  in  their  present  form,  but  in  substance] 
were  actually  addressed  to  them.  There  is,  probably,  not  one 
idea  contained  in  the  manual,  which  was  not,  during  their 
course  in  that  Institution,  distinctly  communicated  to  them, 
either  orally  or  in  writing.  The  influence  of  these  counsels  on 
their  minds,  it  is  believed,  was  not  wholly  useless.  ^lay  they  prove 
still  more  useful  when  ])resented  in  this  revised  and  more  pul)lic 
form." 

6.    Correspondence  and  Diary. 

To  Dr.  Plumer,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1843,  Dr.  Miller 
wrote, 

As  to  what  it  is  expedient  to  do  in  regard  to  High  Church- 
ism  at  this  time,  I  feel  somewhat  at  a  loss.  That  it  ought  to  be 
resisted  I  have  no  doubt.  But  I  do  doubt  the  policy  of  peck- 
ing at  it  in  little  occasional  paragraphs.  I  should  be  glad  if 
any  one  would  enter  the  lists,  and  deal  a  blow  to  this  insolent 
spirit,  which  would  not  need  to  be  repeated.  I  never  was 
qualified  to  deal  such  blows;  and  now,  in  my  seventy-fourth 
year,  I  cannot  undertake  even  what  I  once  might  have  thought 
of.  Perhaps  this  matter  may  be  the  subject  of  some  delibera- 
tion here.     But  I  cannot  assure  you  of  this.' 

To  one  of  his  sons,  a  licentiate.  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the 
19th  of  October, 

*As  the  time  so  nearly  approaches,  when,  with  the  permission 
of  Providence,  your  ordination  will  take  place,  I  need  scarcely 
tell  you  that  my  solicitude,  my  anxiety  and  my  ])rayers  jrather 
strength  in  your  behalf.  May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church, 
in  mercy  to  you,  and  in  mercy  to  his  people,  inspire  you  with 
wisdom,  gird  you  with  strength,  and  make  you  faithful,  watch- 
ful and  diligent  in  the  discharge  of  all  your  arduous  and  most 
interesting  duties  !  Remember  too  your  own  weakness.  Call 
to  mind  your  need  of  the  grace  of  Christ  at  every  stej).  Never 
pass  a  day,  without  humbly  and  solemnly  looking  to  hiru  for 
guidance  and  aid.  "  Thou,  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in  the 
grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus!"  "Be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and 
Vol.  XL— 35 


458  OLD  AGE.  [CH.  39.  6. 

in  the  power  of  his  might ! "  If  I  could  be  sure  that  you  did, 
in  any  good  degree,  feel  your  own  weakness,  and,  under  a  deep 
sense  of  it,  habitually  and  importunately  cry  for  help  from 
above,  I  should  confidently  look  for  precious  results  in  your 
new  charge.  May  all  spiritual  and  heavenly  blessings  in 
Christ  Jesus  rest  upon  you  and  crown  your  labors ! 

'  The  more  I  reflect  upon  it,  the  more  important  does  it  ap- 
pear to  me,  that  you  should  adopt  some  decisive  plan  in  regard 
to  unreasonable  interruptions  from  the  calls  of  your  parishioners 
and  friends.  Besides  apprizing  Dr.  D and  your  land- 
lady of  your  wishes,  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  thus  putting 
them  in  the  way  of  being  extensively  known,  not  only  to  your 
immediate  friends,  but  to  strangers,  who  make  inquiry  for  your 
lodgings,  I  would  advise  that,  when  you  are  specially  en- 
gaged, you  should  lock  your  room  door,  and  be  deaf  to  every 
knock,  previously  hanging  on  the  outside  a  little  label  "^  *  pur- 
porting that  you  can  be  seen  and  spoken  with  at  such  an  hour. 
Dr.  Green  has  more  than  once  told  me,  that  when  he  was  a 
young  man  in  Philadelphia,  and  w^as  sent  for  to  meet  an  intru- 
sive, unwelcome  call  below,  he  was  accustomed  to  come  down 
stairs  with  a  pen  in  his  mouth,  which,  on  beginning  to  speak  to 
the  intruder,  he  transferred  to  his  hand,  thus  taking  pains  to 
let  it  be  seen  that  he  was  busy. 

'  Let  me  exhort  you,  my  dear ,  to  begin  at  once  with  the 

children  of  the  congregation — especially,  so  far  as  you  can  dis- 
tinguish them,  the  baptized  children.  Try  and  find  them  all 
out.  Procure  a  little  blank  book,  strongly  bound  in  leather, 
which  you  may  carry  in  your  pocket  for  months  and  years  to- 
gether. Here  insert  the  names  of  all  the  children  of  the  con- 
gregation, with  anything  peculiar  in  the  case  of  each  w^hich 
may  be  worthy  of  recollection.  When  you  are  about  to  visit  a 
family,  refer  to  this  manual  for  the  names  of  the  children,  in- 
quire for  them,  speak  kindly  to  them,  calling  them  by  name. 
Have  a  tract  in  your  pocket  for  one,  a  little  anecdote  for  an* 
other,  etc.  This  will  conciliate  the  parents,  and  bind  them  to 
your  person;  and  it  will  still  more  conciliate  the  children,  and 
prepare  them  to  attend  on  your  ministry  in  a  respectful  and 
profitable  manner.  I  am  more  and  more  persuaded,  that  that 
minister  who  neglects  the  children  and  young  people  of  his 
flock,  neglects  one  of  the  most — perhaps  I  may  say  the  most 
important  means  of  saving  souls — of  building  up  the  church, 
and  promoting  at  once  the  comfort  and  the  success  of  his  min- 
istry. 

'  Let  me  also  advise  that  you  be  very  careful  to  attract,  and 
to  bind  to  your  person  and  ministry  all  the  young  men  who  fall 
in  your  way ;  and  especially  those  of  promising  talents  and 


1844.]  CORRESPONDENCE   AND    DIARY.  4o9 

character.  I  have  somewhere  met  with  the  statement,  that  one 
of  the  great  secrets  of  Julius  Caisar's  popular  influence  was, 
that  he  took  pains  to  gain  the  favor,  and  attach  to  his  person, 
all  the  young  men  of  talents  whom  he  could  find.  Fix  your 
eyes  on  all  such  young  men.  Try  to  gain  them.  You  may 
thus  be  instrumental  of  doing  more  good,  in  a  wholesale  way, 
than  you  can  well  imagine.  He  who  becomes  the  means  of 
introducing  a  fine  young  man  into  the  Redeemer's  kingdom 
and  ministry,  may  thereby  do  as  much  good  as  he  who  prepares 
and  publishes  a  good  book. 

*  P.  S.  The  day  of  your  ordination  (Xovember  1)  will  proba- 
bly be  observed  by  your  dear  mother  and  myself,  as  a  day  of 
special  prayer.  I  need  scarcely  say,  that  I  hope  you  will  join 
us  in  that  exercise.' 

To  the  same  he  wrote  on  the  25th  of  December, 
'As  to  your  sermon,  my  dear  Son,  w^e  shall  bo  able  to  judge 
better  when  we  see  it.  When  a  man  has  preached  a  sermon, 
which  is  requested  for  the  press,  he  ought  to  feel  at  full  liberty 
to  make  it  as  good  as  he  can  after  it  is  preached.  And,  as  to 
allowing  anything  that  he  prints  to  be  executed  in  a  cheap  and 
mean  style,  it  is  always  bad  policy.' 

In  his  diary  Dr.  Miller  wrote,  on  his  wedding-day, 

*  October  24th,  1843.  ^  *  That  miserable  worldling,  who 
was  the  author  of  the  w^ork  called  "Lacon,"  has  said,  "Mar- 
riage is  a  feast,  where  the  grace  is  sometimes  better  than  the 
dinner."  And  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  multitudes,  perhaps 
(though  I  trust  not)  a  majority  of  the  married,  find  their  union 
an  alliance  to  misery.  If  it  be  so,  then  surely,  we,  who  have 
found  it  so  much  otherwise,  have  reason  to  praise  the  Lord  that 
he  has  made  our  union  so  happy  and  so  useful.     "^     "^ ' 

On  the  -30th  of  the  same  month,  Dr.  James  W.  Alexan- 
der wrote  to  Dr.  Hall, 

"I  am  concerned  at  having  to  say  that  good  old  Dr.  ^Miller 
is  quite  ill,  with  pleurisy.  The  loss  of  him  would  be  a  sad  blow 
to  us.  I  think  him  one  of  the  most  conscientious  and  pious 
men  I  ever  knew.  His  behaviour  in  a  parlour-controversy  is 
an  example  to  every  one,  and  has  often  put  me  to  shame."^ 

To  his  son  in  the  ministry  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  19th 
of  February,  1844, 

'I  have  now  so  far  recovered  from  my  late  protracted  sickness, 
that  I  can  no  longer  delay  taking  pen  in   hand  to  assure  you 

1  1  Familiar  Letter?,  3S6. 


460  OLD   AGE.  [CH.  39.  6. 

that  my  affection  for  you,  and  my  interest  in  your  affairs,  have 
not  in  the  least  diminished.  I  was  at  no  time,  indeed,  severely 
ill;  but  my  debility  was  so  great,  and  so  obstinately  continued, 
that  I  can  truly  say,  that,  what  with  the  influenza,  v;hich  af- 
flicted me  through  the  first  three  weeks  of  December,  and  a 
slow  fever,  the  consequence  of  the  influenza,  which  confined  me 
chiefly  to  my  bed  from  that  time  till  the  second  week  in  Feb- 
ruary, I  have  not  had  a  well  or  comfortable  day  for  more  than 
two  months  past.  I  am  now,  however,  by  the  Lord's  mercy, 
so  well,  that  I  go  out  freely,  and  attend  to  my  duties  in  the 
Seminary  nearly  as  usual.  I  say  nearly,  for  I  do  not  go  out, 
as  yet,  at  night.     *     "^ 

*  Though  I  am  glad  that  you  are  in  favor  of  preaching  much 
without  writing,  yet  I  am  perfectly  sure,  that  if  you  lay  aside 
the  plan  of  writing  sermons,  only  write  on  other  subjects,  and 
preach  habitually  without  writing,  you  will  repent  of  it.  Your 
preaching,  in  this  case,  you  may  rely  upon  it,  will  become  vapid 
and  superficial.  I  hope  you  will,  for  the  first  two  or  three  years 
of  your  ministry  at  least,  write  one  sermon  carefully  per  week, 
and  no  more.  Anything  less  than  this  will  not,  I  am  persuaded, 
enable  you  to  occupy  a  desirable  place  in  the  minds  of  your 
intelligent  hearers.' 

On  the  24th  of  September,  1844,  a  convention  of  direc- 
tors, trustees,  and  alumni  of  the  Seminary  was  held  at 
Princeton,  and  determined  upon  an  earnest  efl'ort  to  raise 
a  sum  of  money  suflScient  for  the  permanent  endowment  of 
the  institution,  and  to  meet  the  current  expenses,  until  the 
endowment  was  effected.  The  Rev.  Cortlandt  Van  Rens- 
selaer, whose  name  is  so  well  known  and  tenderly  cherished 
throughout  the  Church  which  he  nobly  served,  was  requested 
to  act  as  agent  for  carrying  out  this  determination ;  a  ser- 
vice which,  of  choice,  he  performed  withour  salary,  or  even 
the  payment  of  his  travelling  expenses.  The  permanent 
funds  •  of  the  Seminary  at  this  time  were  estimated  at 
§99,500  ;  of  w^hich  $60,700  belonged  to  the  professorships, 
and  §38,800  to  the  scholarships.  The  aim  of  the  conven- 
tion was  to  raise  $64,300  for  the  former,  and  $28,200  for 
the  latter,  nearly  doubling  the  whole  endowment ;  much 
was  accomplished;  but  the  full  measure  of  success  hoped 
for  was  not  realized.  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer  was  soon  called 
away  from  this  enterprise,  to  fulfill  the  important  functions 
of  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

Dr.  Miller  was  invited  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the 


1844.]  CORRESPONDENCE   AND    DIARY.  461 

fortieth  anniversary  of  the  Now  York  Historical  Society, 
on  the  20th  of  November,  1844  ;  when  a  discourse  was  to 
be  delivered  by  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  Esquire,  and  a 
dinner  given  for  the  Society  and  its  guests.  Dr.  Miller, 
with  something  of  his  youthful  ardour  revived  by  tlic  occa- 
sion, replied, 

*I  feel  myself  much  honored  by  the  invitation     "■•'     * 

*I  have  not  forgotten  the  deep  interest  which  I  took  in  the 
formation  and  the  labours  of  your  society,  as  one  of  its  original 
members;  nor  the  earnest  desire  which  I  cherished,  i'vom  a  still 
more  remote  period,  to  contribute  my  mite  toward  the  elucida- 
tion of  the  early  history  of  our  beloved  country. 

'When  Mr.  Brodhead  went  to  Europe,  as  the  historical  agent 
of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  I  took  the  liveliest  interest  in  his 
mission,  and  looked  forward  to  his  return,  and  to  the  results  of 
his  labours,  with  high  anticipations.  And,  when  I  heard  of 
his  arrival,  and  of  the  ample  stores  of  historical  records  which 
he  had  brought  with  him,  I  felt  an  ardent  desire  to  see  him, 
and  listen  to  the  report  of  his  rich  acquisitions. 

'  You  may  well  suppose,  then,  that  few  things  would  give  me 
more  pleasure,  than  to  accept  of  your  kind  invitation,  and  to 
be  present  on  an  occasion  so  w^ell  adapted  to  instruct  and 
gratify  one  whose  partialities  and  pursuits  have  been  such  as 
mine. 

'  It  is,  therefore,  with  unfeigned  regret  that  I  find  myself 
unable  to  be  present.  But,  being  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of 
my  age;  my  health  having  been  extremely  delicate  and  re- 
peatedly interrupted  during  the  last  twelve  months;  and  the 
season  of  the  year  being  one  in  which  variable  and  trying 
weather  is  to  be  expected;  I  am  afraid  to  leave  home,  and  must 
deny  myself  the  great  pleasure  which  a  compliance  with  your 
polite  request  would  afibrd  me.' 

Dr.  Miller  wrote  a  letter,  dated  the  25tli  of  Xoveniber, 
to  the  Bev.  Dr.  Samuel  Hanson  Cox,  recommending  Bower's 
History  of  the  Popes,  which  was  about  to  be  re-published 
with  an  introduction  and  continuation  from  Dr.  Cox's  pen. 
This  letter  appeared  in  connection  with  the  work.  On  the 
16th  of  December,  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  sons, 

'  I  send  you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  Life  of  McCheyne,  which 
was  published  by  our  Board  at  my  request.  "•  '■'  Read  it 
carefully,  seriously,  solemnly.  *  *  The  subject  of  this  me- 
moir was,  indeed,"^  a  sublime  christian !     The  best  wish  I  can 


462  OLD    AGE.  [CH.  39.  6. 

form  for  you  is,  that  you  may  resemble  him  in  spirit,  and  in  all 
your  habits.' 

During  the  year  1844,  Dr.  Miller  suffered  from  illness 
repeatedly  and  severely.  He  seems  to  have  been  confined 
to  the  house  the  whole  month  of  January,  and  until  about 
the  11th  of  February,  when  his  'Record  of  Preaching' 
says,  '  Did  not  preach,  but  went  to  church:  laiis  Beo!' 
Toward  the  last  of  June,  he  paid  a  visit  to  his  son  in  Fred- 
erick, and  j)reached  for  him ;  but  the  next  entry  in  the 
'  Record '  is,  '  On  Saturday,  July  9th,  I  was  again  taken 
sick,  was  confined  to  my  bed  for  nearly  four  weeks,  and 
did  not  preach  for  two  months.'  Then,  a  large  part  of  the 
month  of  December  he  was  laid  by,  though  not  so  seriously 
ill  as  before. 


CIIAPTERFORTIETII 

L  E  T  T  E  R-W  R  I  T  I  X  G . 


The  portions  of  Dr.  Miller's  correspondence  already  pre- 
sented to  the  reader,  have  made  it  quite  apparent,  that  he 
wrote  much  in  this  way,  and  that  he  regarded  letter-writing 
as  an  important  means  of  exerting  an  influence  and  doing- 
good.  To  illustrate  this  more  clearly,  a  few  of  his  letters 
of  varions  dates  will  be  thrown  together  here,  with  reference 
rather  to  other  principles  of  arrangement,  than  to  the  order 
of  time. 

In  repeated  instances,  Dr.  ^liUer  wrote  letters  of  warn- 
ing and  admonition  to  neighbors  and  acquaintances  who 
seemed  to  be  falling  into  vicious  habits,  or  who,  by  notori- 
ous sins,  were  likely  to  exert  a  corrupting  influence.  To 
one  whom  he  thus  addressed,  he  said  in. conclusion, 

'  Perhaps  you  will  ask,  what  right  I  have  to  volunteer  in  ad- 
dressing, on  such  a  subject,  a  public  ofliccr  who  is  no  way  ac- 
countable to  me.  I  answer,  I  am  an  inhabitant  of  this  town  ; 
and,  of  course,  have  an  interest  in  its  welfare  and  honor.  I  am 
the  father  of  a  large  family  ;  and  cannot  be  indiflerent  to  any- 
thing which  may  have  an  influence  injurious  to  any  of  its  mem- 
bers. I  am  a  minister  of  the  Gospel ;  and,  as  such,  bound  to 
reprove  sin,  and  to  promote  correct  morals  and  piety  by  all  the 
lawful  means  in  my  power.  I  am  a  trustee  of  the  College  ;  and 
have  taken  a  solemn  oath  to  endeavour  to  promote  the  true  in- 
terests of  the  institution,  and  of  all  who  belong  to  it,  to  the  best 
of  my  knowledge  and  understanding.  And,  finally,  I  am  an 
unfeigned  friend  and  well-wisher  of  you  and  your  family,  and 
sincerely  desire  the  happiness  of  both.  Standing  in  all  these 
relations,  if  what  I  have  heard  be  true,  or  anything  like  it,  can 
I,  ought  I,     =^         *         to  be  silent  ?' 

In  a  postscript,  Dr.  Miller  added, 

<*  *  Allow  me  to  remind  you,  that  you,  like  others,  need 
a  Saviour.  Oh,  do  not  treat  with  scorn  the  message  which  pro- 
claims and  oflers  salvation !    From  long  experience  with  respect 

463 


464  LETTER-WRITING.  [CH.  40. 

to  deatli-bed  scenes,  I  can  venture  with  confidence  to  foretell, 
that  such  a  course  will  give  you  no  pleasure  when  you  come  to 
die.  From  this  hour,  I  beseech  you,  turn  about,  and  pursue  a 
completely  diflferent  course.  My  fervent  prayer  is,  that  I  may 
see  you  not  only  a  correct  and  regular  public  officer,  but,  also, 
what  is  infinitely  more  important,  a  real  christian.  It  would 
give  me  more  pleasure  to  be  the  means  of  promoting  your  ever- 
lasting welfare  than  I  can  express  in  words.' 

Upon  a  copy  of  the  letter  from  which  the  foregoing  ex- 
tracts have  been  taken,  Dr.  Miller,  ten  years  after  its  date, 
endorsed  the  following  : — 

*  It  is  worthy  of  grateful  notice,  that  the  individual,  to  whom 
the  above  letter  was  directed,  not  only,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
corrected  the  errors  for  which  it  reproved  him  ;  but,  several 
years  afterwards,  died  in  the  hope  of  the  Gospel,  renouncing 
his  infidel  opinions  with  deep  apparent  humiliation,  and  ex- 
pressing a  confident  trust  in  Christ.  Whether  this  letter  had 
the  least  connection  with  that  change  is  not  known  to  me.' 

About  a  student  in  the  Seminary,  when  inquiry  was 
made,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'  I  should  augur  very  favorably  of  his  success  as  a  minister. 
I  fully  expect  that  he  will  make  a  popular  and  acceptable 
preacher;  and  shall  be  much  disappointed  if  the  result  should 
be  dififerent.  He  is  somewhat  self-confident  and  ardent,  border- 
ing on  the  impetuous.  This  circumstance,  together  with  a  desire 
to  be  settled  in  the  domestic  state,  may  tempt  him  to  close  his 
preliminary  studies,  and  engage  in  the  active  duties  of  the  min- 
istry, too  soon.  If  he  should  yield  to  this  temptation,  my  opin- 
ion is,  that  the  probability  of  his  acceptableness  and  usefulness 
will  be  not  a  little  impaired.  If  he  were  about  to  marry  a  rel- 
ative of  mine,  over  whom  I  had  the  least  influence,  I  should  ex- 
ert the  whole  of  that  influence  in  persuading  her  to  decline, 
most  peremptorily,  all  proposals  to  consummate  a  matrimonial 
connection,  before  he  had  fully  completed  the  course  of  three 
years.' 

The  following  extracts  from  a  letter  to  a  pastor,  formerly 
his  pupil  in  the  Seminary,  and  involved  in  controversy  with 
a  sect  denying  fundamental  christian  doctrines,  gives,  at 
once,  a  specimen  of  Dr.  Miller's  treatment  of  pupils  who 
had  gone  forth  to  their  labors,  and  some  of  his  views  of  the 
proper  manner  of  conducting  religious  controversy.  His 
correspondent  had  left  the  Seminary  about  ten  years  pre- 
viously. 


1844.]  LETTER-WRITING.  4G5 

*  I  received  your  letter  of  the  20tli  instant  two  days  a<ro.  It 
needed  no  apology.  I  have  always  been  glad  to  hear  from  you  ; 
and,  although  the  contents  of  your  letter  were  painful,  yet  I 
turn  to  you  as  to  a  beloved  son,  and  shall  be  cordially  glad  if 
I  can  say  a  word  that  may  be  of  use  inyour  present  interesting 
and  trying  circumstances.  True,  I  am  now  in  my  seventy-eighth 
year,  and  am  compassed  about  with  many  of  the  infirmities 
which  commonly  attend  that  age ;  so  that  writing  is  m(jre  of  a 
task  than  it  once  was ;  yet,  if  I  can  suggest  anything  for  your 
benefit,  it  will  unfeignedly  gratify  me.     *      * 

'  Whether  you  ought  to  carry  this  controversy  into  your  j)ul- 
pit,  I  cannot  decisively  advise,  without  knowing  more  than  I  do 
of  the  state  of  matters  in  detail  in  your  congregation  and  neigh- 
borhood. If  the  public  mind  seems  to  expect  it  and  demand  it; 
and  if  many  persons  appear  to  be  perplexed,  and  disposed  to. in- 
quire on  the  subject,  then  you  are  bound,  I  must  think,  to  take 
the  matter  up,  and  say  something  in  behalf  of  the  truth.  And 
if  you  do  discuss  the  subject,  allow  me  to  suggest  the  following 
considerations  : — 

'  1.  Try  to  conduct  all  your  discourses  which  treat  of  this 
subject  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  mildness,  benevolence,  and 
charity.  Guard  against  harsh  and  denunciatory  language  ;  and, 
while  you  represent  the  impious  and  mischievous  character  of 
error  with  fidelity,  remember  the  old  maxim  in  polemics — "  Soft 
words  and  hard  arguments."  I  have  long  thought  the  letters 
of  John  Newton  to  Thomas  Scott — as  given  in  the  appendix  to 
Scott's  Force  of  Truth,  (printed  by  our  Board  of  Publication,)  a 
noble  specimen  of  controversy  conducted  in  a  truly  Christian 
spirit,  and  addressed  chiefly  to  the  heart. 

*  2.  If  you  know  of  any  persons  whose  minds  are  exercised  on 
this  subject,  try  to  procure  and  put  into  their  hands  some 
printed  tracts,  or  larger  volumes  ; — according  to  their  intelli- 
gence and  disposition  to  read ; — and  let  all  your  intercourse  with 
such  persons  be  marked  with  the  kindest  spirit,  and  your  ad- 
dresses adapted  quite  as  much  to  the  heart  as  to  the  understand- 
ing. A  tract,  or  a  book,  to  be  read  and  reflected  on  at  leisure, 
is,  to  many,  much  more  likely  to  be  useful  than  preaching. 

'  3.  I  would  advise  that  you  do  not  allow  the  ^  =^  *  contro- 
versy to  occupy  too  large  a  share  of  your  pulpit  labours.  Do 
not  let  your  ^-  "^  neighbours  imagine,  that  you  regard  them 
as  the  great  black  Devil  who  is  continually  haunting  you.  Do 
not  forget  to  preach  the  simple,  pure,  didactic  Gospel,  without 
special  reference  to  controversy. 

'4.  Let  the  present  crisis,  in  which  you  deem  it  your  duty  to 
put  on  the  armour  of  warfare,  lead  you  to  be  more  closely  con- 


466  LETTER-WRITING.  [CH.  40. 

versant  than  usual  with  the  throne  of  grace.  "When  "  contend- 
ing earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  you 
need  to  be  doubly  inspired  with  wisdom,  and  doubly  girded 
with  strength.  Rely  upon  it,  all  your  preaching,  and  all  your 
conversation,  will  have  a  precious  savour,  just  in  proportion  as 
they  are  consecrated  by  the  word   of  God  and  prayer.' 

Dr.  Miller  then  added  a  list  of  books  for  his  correspond- 
ent's own  use  and  another  of  those  suited  to  popular  use 
and  circulation. 

To  a  pastor,  against  whom  a  party  in  his  church  were  la- 
boring to  stir  up  opposition,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

*  It  would  be  doing  justice  to  neither  yourself,  nor  the  cause 
of  truth  and  order,  to  withdraw  from  your  charge  at  the  bid- 
ding of  such  a  factious  minority. 

'That  the  elders  should  *  *  call  a  congregational 
meeting  without  consulting  you,  and  that  immediately  on  the 
back  of  a  presbyterial  censure  for  conduct  of  the  same  sort  *  ^ 
must,  I  should  think,  bring  down  reprobation  on    *     *  [them.] 

*  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  you  have  a  right  to  attend  the 
meeting,  and,  if  you  think  proper,  to  take  the  chair  and 
preside.  It  may  be  wise,  however,  to  request  some  brother 
clergyman,  belonging  to  your  j^resbytery,  to  preside  in 
your  place.  But  one  thing  is  clear.  If  you  waive  your 
right  to  preside,  no  one  of  your  opponents  ought  to  preside, 
at  the  contemplated  meeting.  A  general  piece  of  advice 
I  would  decidedly  give ;  and  that  is,  if  you  must  err,  let 
it  be  on  the  side  of  forbearance  and  gentleness.  If  I  were 
in  your  place,  I  would  make  a  point  of  being  present  at  the 
meeting,  and  offering  such  statements  as  the  occasion  may  war- 
rant, and  the  language  and  conduct  of  your  opponents  may  de- 
mand.' 

The  drafts  sometimes  made,  or  proposed  upon  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's time  and  strength,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  following 
extract  from  an  unpaid  letter  from  a  country  minister. 

'  Now,  as,  here,  I  have  no  access  to  books  which  can  afford 
satisfactory  proof  of  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  statement 
made  by  them,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  request  you  to  state 
if,  and  how  far,  Origen,  and  some  others,  [Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,  Gregory  Thauraaturgus,  Pamphilius,  Eusebius,  and  Ba- 
sil the  Great,  mentioned  previously]  were  believers  in' — a  cer- 
tain doctrine  which  the  writer  designates. 

'My  dear  Sir, 

'It  has  given  me  much  pain  to  learn,  within  a  few  days, 
that  you  have,  recently,  in  addressing  your  classs  in  College, 


1844.]  LETTER-WRITING.    .  467 

recommended  to  them  the  reading  of  Bnlwcr's  novels.  Aside, 
altogether,  from  the  question,  wliother  novel-reading,  in  general, 
is  adapted  to  promote  the  benefit  of  young  men  pursuing  a 
course  of  sound  and  sober  education,  the  notorious  fact  is,  that 
the  greater  part,  if  not  all,  of  Bulwer's  novels  are  corrupt  in 
their  moral  character  and  influence;  that  is,  calculated  to  re- 
commend opinions  and  practices  su])versivc  of  the  best  interests 
of  youth  for  this  world  as  well  as  that  which  is  to  come. 

'It  has  been  my  constant  aim  and  endeavor  to  prevail  upon 
my  own  sons,  and  upon  all  the  college  students  Avith  whom  I 
have  any  influence,  to  abstain  from  reading  novels,  as  a  species 
of  reading  adapted  in  its  best  form,  to  do  injury,  by  consuming, 
to  little  profit,  time  which  might  be  employed  in  reading  suited 
to  fill  the  mind  with  facts,  and  principles,  and  solid  furniture, 
such  as  their  enlightened  christian  friends  could  wish  them  to 
acquire.  These  are  the  sentiments  which  I  have  labored  to 
impress  on  the  minds  of  several  young  relations  now  in  college  ; 
and  these  the  sentiments  which  I  have  taken  pains  to  embody 
and  recommend,  at  large,  in  a  system  of  counsels  which  I  am 
preparing  for  the  press;  and  which  I  hope,  in  a  few  months,  if  it 
shall  please  God  to  spare  my  life  and  health,  to  present  to 
the  public.  True,  I  do  not  hope  to  succeed  in  prevailing 
on  most  young  men  to  practice  total  abstinence  here ;  but  it  is 
my  earnest  desire  to  come  as  near  to  this  as  possible. 

'I  need  not  say,  therefore,  my  dear  Sir,  that  the  information 
■which  I  have  received  has  given  me,  as  a  parent,  as  a  well- 
wisher  to  the  rising  generation,  and  as  a  trustee  of  the  College, 
great  pain,  and  no  little  anxiety  as  to  your  influence  as  an  in- 
structor. You  may  rest  assured  that  your  counsel  in  regard  to 
the  matter  referred  to,  while  it  was  very  gratifying  to  some  of 
the  more  idle  and  licentious  of  the  literary  circle  to  whom  it 
was  addressed,  w^as  deeply  surprising  to  some^  others  of  juster 
sentiments  and  more  sober  habits.  It  is  impossible,  a.s  it  appears 
to  me,  that  such  counsel  should  be  otherwise  than  mischievous 
to  some  members  of  a  class  training  up  to  meet  the  great  prac- 
tical realities  of  the  life  for  which  they  are  preparing. 

'I  was  the  more  surprised  to  be  told  ofthe  counsels  vou  gave 
to  your  pupils,  from  having  understood,  a  considerable  time 
ago,  that  you  had  been  heard  to  state,  that,  at  an  early  period 
of  your  life,  your  wdiole  attention  had  been  absorbed  by  novels ; 
and  that  you  considered  yourself  as  having  incurred  no  small 
injury  by  excessive  devotion  to  that  species  of  reading.  One 
would  think,  that,  if  my  information  was  correct,  your  own 
painful  experience  would  have  led  you  to  give  very  different 
counsel  to  youth  committed  to  your  guidance. 


468  LETTER-WRITING.  [CH.  40. 

*  I  hope,  my  dear  Sir,  you  will  receive  this  communication  in 
the  friendly  manner  in  which  it  is  intended.  Do  not  imagine 
that  I  wish  to  interfere  with  the  right  of  private  judgment. 
Far  from  it.  I  am  very  far  from  insisting  that  you  should 
adopt  my  opinions  on  the  subject  of  novel  reading.  But  would 
you  not  consider  me  as  recreant  to  my  oath  and  my  obligations 
as  a  trustee  of  the  College,  if,  with  such  opinions  as  I  hold,  and 
strongly  hold,  on  this  subject,  I  should  be  silent,  when  counsels 
so  directly  opposite  to  them  are  given  from  the  instructor's 
chair  to  the  pupils  of  an  institution  committed,  though  remotely, 
to  my  guardianship  and  care?  I  think  too  favorably  of  your 
principles  to  doubt,  for  a  moment,  that  your  judgment  and 
conscience  would  be  against  me. 

'I  commit  these  paternal  hints  to  your  serious  consideration, 
and  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

'Your  friend, 

'Sam'l  Miller.* 

The  following  lines  from  Dr.  Miller's  diary  refer  to  the 
letters  from  which  the  subsequent  extracts  are  taken. 

*  December  6,  18 — ,  I  wrote  two  letters,  one  to of 

and  the  other  to of .     These  young  men 

were  both  classmates  of  my  son who  graduated  last  Sep- 
tember, in  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  I  have,  in  many  re- 
spects, a  good  opinion  of  their  talents  and  general  character  ; 
and  feel  exceedingly  anxious  that  they  may  receive  a  happy 
direction.  With  the  hope,  that,  by  the  divine  blessing,  they 
may  be  susceptible  of  good  impressions,  I  have  written  each  of 
them  a  long,  friendly,  and  affectionate  letter,  giving  them  ad- 
vice with  respect  to  their  future  course  of  study  and  pursuits ; 
and  trying  to  make  a  suitable  impresssion  on  their  minds.  '^'  * 

'  I  scarcely  ever  feel  the  importance  of  every  word  I  speak 
or  write,  more  than  when  it  is  addressed  to  young  men  of 
liberal  education,  who  are  coming  forward,  in  all  probability, 
to  take  a  leading  part  in  society.  Oh,  with  what  seriousness, 
solemnity  and  prayer  ought  such  persons  to  be  approached  and 
addressed !' 

'My  dear  Sir.  Princeton,  December  — : — 18 

'  Since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  in ,  and  es- 
pecially since  I  heard  from  your  cousin,  some  days  ago,  that 
you  had  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  I  determined  to  seize 
the  first  leisure  hour  to  write  you  a  letter  of  respectful  and  af- 
fectionate counsel.  That  leisure  hour  has  not  occurred  until 
now ;  and  even  now  various  duties  so  accumulate  on  my  hands, 
that  I  must  be  more  brief  than  I  once  intended. 


1844.]  LETTER-WRITING.  469 

'  You  will,  perhaps,  be  somewhat  surprised  at  receiving  this 
communication,  and  be  inclined  to  ask,  what  is  my  inducement 
to  address  you.  My  reply  is — I  never  see  a  young  man  with 
good  talents,  of  polished  and  pleasant  manners,  and  liaving 
received  a  liberal  education,  without  feeling  an  intense  interest 
in  him,  and  an  earnest  desire  that  he  may  receive  such  a  bias 
and  direction,  as  will  render  him  an  ornament  and  a  blessing  to 
society.  Such  an  interest  I  feel  in  you.  Your  being  a  class- 
mate of  my  beloved ;  my  acquaintance  witli  your  re- 
spected parents,  and  my  long  and  intimate  friendship  with  your 
excellent  and  revered  grandmother — added  to  my  ojiinion  of 
your  personal  talents  and  character — cause  me  to  feel  a  pecu- 
liar desire  that  you  may  prove  all  that  your  Alma  Mater  and 
your  friends  can  wish. 

'Allow  me,  then,  to  pour  out  the  fullness  of  my  heart  in  a 
few  of  those  respectful  and  paternal  counsels,  which  I  know  are 
important  to  your  interests,  and  which  I  trust  you  will  receive 
as  they  are  intended — as  expressions  of  unfeigned  and  disin- 
terested regard  to  your  temporal  and  eternal  welfare.     "*'     * 

'  I.  Do  not  allow  yourself  to  lose  any  part  of  your  collegial 
attainments.  You  can  redeem  a  little  time  from  your  profes- 
sional studies.  Spend  at  least  one  hour,  every  day,  in  reading 
Latin  and  Greek.  This  will  preserve  and  improve  your  ac- 
c^uaintance  with  those  languages.  If  you  can  spend  another 
hour,  every  day,  for  a  year  to  come,  in  reviewing  your  Kheto- 
ric,  Natural  Philosophy,  Astronomy  and  Chemistry  in  their 
turns,  it  will  be  very  important.  I  take  for  granted  that  you 
aspire  to  an  elevated  place  in  your  profession — as  near  the 
head  of  it  as  possible.  Now,  continuing  and  extending  the  at- 
tainments of  which  I  speak,  will  not  only  form  elegant  accom- 
plishments; but  they  will  enlarge  your  enjoyment,  increase 
your  respectability,  extend  your  resources  and  powers  in  pub- 
lic speaking,  chasten  and  elevate  your  eloquence,  enable  you 
to  be  more  extensively  and  variously  useful,  and  give  you  far 
more  weight  and  authority  in  the  community.  That  profes- 
sional man  is  infatuated,  who  suffers  himself  to  grow  rusty  in 
his  college  studies.  If  you  should  live,  you  may  be  elected, 
ten  years  hence,  a  trustee  of  your  Alma  Mater.  If  that  should 
be  the  case,  or  if  you  should  be  a  trustee  of  an  academy  in 
your  neighborhood,  how  much  more  useful  might  you  be  in 
such  an  office,  by  continuing  to  be  at  home  in  college  studies. 
I  hope  while  you  live  you  will  be  a  patron  of  sound  literature. 
To  enable  you  to  do  this  with  effect,  you  must  continue  in 
your  own  person  to  cultivate  literature. 

'II.  Determine  to  he,  through  life,  Si  jjublic  bcnefaetor.     You 


470  LETTER-WRITING.  [CH.  40. 

have  it  in  your  power,  my  young  friend,  humanly  speaking,  to 
be  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  the  United  States.  You  have 
intellectual  abilities,  which,  if  properly  improved  and  exerted, 
will  give  you  a  great  and  benign  influence  among  your  fellow- 
men.  And  God  has  been  pleased  to  give  you  connections  in 
life,  which  cannot  fail  of  facilitating  efforts  to  do  good.  Let  it 
be  your  distinct  aim,  and  the  object  of  your  unceasing  pursuit, 
from  the  hour  you  read  this  page,  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
benefactors  of  the  state  in  which  you  live,  and  of  the  United 
States,  by  habitual  efforts  to  be  useful  in  every  way ;  by  setting 
a  pure,  spotless  and  elevated  example  to  all  the  young  and 
old  around  you;  by  encouraging  and  sedulously  promoting  all 
good  institutions;  by  becoming  a  public,  active  patron  of  litera- 
ture, science,  moral  associations  and  religion,  wherever  you  may 
go ;  and  by  showing  every  day  that  you  are  willing  to  deny 
yourself  and  to  labour  for  the  sake  of  promoting  the  benefit  of 
others.  I  can  assure  you,  my  young  friend,  that  if  you  fairly 
make  the  experiment,  you  will  find  this  not  only  the  most  truly 
honorable  course  that  you  can  pursue;  one  best  of  all  adapted 
to  endear  and  elevate  you  in  the  view  of  your  contempora- 
ries ;  but  decidedly  also  the  happiest  in  the  world.  Let  such 
be  your  steady  aim,  such  your  daily  and  hourly  ambition, 
and  you  will  never  repent  of  it.  Which,  think  you,  wiilap^ 
pear  most  noble,  most  worthy  of  a  reasonable  being,  and  most 
gratifying,  on  reflection,  twenty  years  hence,  if  you  should  live 
so  long — to  have  been  a  man  of  dissipated  jDleasure,  and  to 
be  remembered  only  as  one  of  the  fruges  consumere  nati,  or  to 
have  passed  your  time  in  cultivating  your  mind  and  your 
heart,  and  doing  good  to  your  fellow-men  ? 

'III.  If  you  desire  to  be  a  great  and  good  man,  make  the 
Bible  your  daily  study  and  guide.  When  I  think  of  the 
character  of  such  men  as  Newton,  and  Locke,  and  Boyle,  and 
Boerhaave,  and  Hale,  and  Howard,  and  Wilberforce,  etc.,  etc., 
and  remember  how  diligently  they  studied  the  Bible,  and  how 
much  influence  they  all  acknowledged  that  book  had  on  their 
character  and  course,  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  too  strongly  re- 
commend it  to  you,  and  to  every  young  man  who  wishes  to 
be  eminently  useful  in  this  world — placing  a  future  life  entire- 
ly out  of  the  question.  But  when  the  eternal  welfare  of  such 
an  individual  is  considered,  then  the  importance  of  this  book, 
given  to  be  a  lamp  to  our  feet  and  a  light  to  our  path,  becomes 
unspeakable. 

'IV.  To  the  study  of  the  Bible  let  me  entreat  you  to  add 
daily  prayer.  You  must  acknowledge  God  in  all  your  ways,  if 
you  expect  him  to  direct  your  paths.     You  remember  the  case 


1844.]  LETTER-WRITING.  471 

of  Solomon.  When  he  was  a  young  man,  about  your  ago,  and 
was  directed  to  ask  for  what  he  wished,  he  made  it  an  object  of 
fervent  and  unceasing  petition,  that  the  God  of  his  fUthors 
would  give  him  ivkdom — true  heavenly  wisdom.  Go,  my 
young  friend,  and  do  likewise,  and  you  will  have  reason  to  re- 
joice all  your  days.  "  The  blessing  of  the  Lord,  it  maketh 
rich,  and  he  addeth  no  sorrow  with  it." 

*  V.  As  the  great  mass,  even  of  our  liberally  educated  young 
men,  grow  up  with  scarcely  any  digested  knowledge  on  the 
most  important  of  all  subjects,  I  would  advise  that  you  ])egin, 
at  once,  to  have  before  you  a  course  q^  systematic  religious  read- 
ing for  all  the  Sundays  in  the  year.  Allow  me,  in  addition  to 
the  Bible,  which  I  hope  will  form  a  part  of  your  reading  every 
day,  to  suggest  the  following  works,  partly  doctrinal  and  i)artly 
practical,  [iov  I  think  the  perusal  of  both  classes  ought  to  go 
on  together,)  for  your  Sunday  reading.  If  you  sacredly  set 
aside  all  your  Sabbaths  for  this  employment,  you  will  be  able 
to  get  through  a  number  of  volumes  in  the  course  of  a  year. 
Paley's  Evidences  of  Christianity,  Paley's  Horas  Paulinie, 
Campbell  on  ^Miracles,  Leslie's  Short  Method  with  the  Deists, 
Chalmers'  Evidences,  Butler's  Analogy,  Dwight's  Theology, 
Edwards  on  the  Will,  Wilberforce's  Practical  View,  Sir  INlat- 
thew  Hale's  Contemplations,  John  Newton's  Works,  Scott's 
Commentary  and  all  his  other  works,  Piiyson's  Life  and  Ser- 
mons, Bellamy's  True  Religion  Delineated.  I  would  begin 
Tvith  Butler's  Analogy,  and  read  that  in  connection  with  some 
more  practical  work — e.  g.  Dwight's  Theology ;  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  Campbell  on  Miracles,  and  Chalmers'  Evidences,  read- 
ing them  in  connection  with  AVilberforce  and  Payson ;  and  so 
on  until  you  have  gotten  through  the  whole  list. 

'  Yl.  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy.  If  you  wish 
to  prosper  in  your  studies,  and  to  enjoy  health  of  body  with 
health  of  mind,  honor  and  sanctify  the  Sabbath,  Mr.  Wilber- 
force,  not  long  before  his  death,  ascribed  the  length,  comfort, 
and  the  success  of  his  life,  under  God,  in  part  to  iiis  conscien- 
tious care  in  sanctifying  this  holy  day,  and  withdrawing  there- 
on from  all  worldly  cares  and  labors.  Kigidly  set  apart  the 
whole  of  the  day,  wherever  you  may  be,  to  religious  duties  and 
reading,  and  the  end  of  each  year  will  find  you  much  the 
gainer. 

'  My  deal-  young  friend,  farewell ;  may  God  ])lcss  you,  and 
make  you  a  blessing  to  your  family,  to  the  Church  of  God,  and 
to  your  generation  ! 

*  Be  pleaded  to  give  my  kind  and  most  respectful  salutations 


472  LETTER-WRITING.  [CH.  40. 

to  your  parents,  and  my  most  affectionate  christian  regards  to 
your  excellent  grandmother. 

'  Yours,  my  dear  Sir,  with  great  sincerity, 

'  Samuel  Miller.' 

To  the  other  graduate  of  the  College,  mentioned  in  his 
diary,  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'  My  reasons  for  addressing  you  in  this  manner  are  various. 
The  interest  I  have  taken  in  you  as  my  son's  classmate ;  my 
impression  that  you  have  talents,  which,  if  rightly  directed, 
will  render  you  capable  of  great  usefulness  in  the  world  ;  my 
knowledge  that  your  station  in  society,  your  family  connec- 
tions, your  property,  are  such  as  will  place  you  in  a  most  re- 
sponsible situation  ;  *  "^  and  my  long  friendship  and  high 
respect  for  your  *  *  father — all  combine  to  constrain  me 
to  take  this  method  of  approaching  you,  and  offering  you  a  few 
thoughts  in  the  way  of  affectionate  and  paternal  counsel.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  much  wise  counsel  is  given  you  from  one 
much  nearer  your  home  than  I  am,  and  abundantly  capable  of 
giving  it  to  the  best  advantage.  But  a  blessing  may  attend  a 
few  suggestions  coming  from  afar,  and  flowing  fr^m  the  heart 
of  one  who  has  no  other  purpose  to  serve  in  thus  addressing 
you,  but  the  promotion  of  your  temporal  and  eternal  happiness. 
If  my  heart  does  not  deceive  me,  my  supreme  wish  concerning 
you  is,  that  you  may  be  honored,  useful  and  happy  here,  and 
that  we  may,  by  the  grace  of  God,  rejoice  together  in  a  better 
world. 

<^'-  ;^  To  be  w//e  will  undoubtedly  degrade  and  injure  you 
in  every  respect.  From  bodily  labour,  to  obtain  a  living,  your 
property  will  exempt  you.  But  to  labour  in  the  cultivation  of 
your  own  mind  will  enrich,  adorn  and  elevate  you  more  than 
I  could,  by  writing  a  volume,  unfold.  If  you  wish  to  be  a 
happy  man,  and  to  attain  the  maximum  of  usefulness,  I  en- 
treat you  do  not  neglect  this  counsel.     *     * 

'  I  would  advise  you  not  only  to  choose  a  profession,  but 
study  it  faithfully,  and  practise  it  diligently.  I  am  aware  that 
you  can  live  without  the  emoluments  of  a  profession.  But  no 
matter  for  that.  The  study  and  practice  of  a  profession  (the 
law,  for  instance,  or  medicine)  will  serve  to  exercise  and  in- 
vigorate your  faculties,  to  call  you  into  active  life,  and  give 
you,  at  once,  stimulants  and  opportunities  to  benefit  all  around 
you.' 


CHAPTER   FORTY-FIRST. 

FAILING    STRENGTH. 

1845—1847. 


CORRESPONDEXCE   AND    DIARY. 

Dr.  Miller  writes  in  his  diary,  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1845, 

'  Since  the  commencement  of  the  past  year,  I  have  been  vis- 
ited with  two  seasons  of  protracted  sickness  ;  one  in  January, 
which  confined  me  to  my  bed  the  whole  of  that  month,  and 
was  followed  with  great  debility  and  a  very  tedious  convales- 
cence ;  the  other  in  July,  (the  consequence  of  an  ill-conducted 
and  fatiguing  journey  to  see  our  son  John,  in  Frederick  City, 
Maryland,)  which  again  confined  me  to  my  bed  for  a  month, 
and  to  my  house  the  greater  part  of  another.  But,  by  the  mercy 
of  a  gracious  Providence,  I  was  brought  through  both ;  and, 
before  the  close  of  the  twelvemonth,  restored  to  a  state  of  health 
as  favorable  as  could  be  expected  in  my  seventy-sixth  year. 

'  I  have  been  permitted,  this  day,  to  preach  a  Xew  Year's 
sermon  in  the  church  in  this  place,  ( in  Dr.  Rice's  absence, )  with 
as  much  comfort  and  strength  as  I  have  been  recently  wont  to 
enjoy.  "^  *  None  of  my  family,  of  Avhom  I  have  any  know- 
ledge, ever  lived  beyond  the  sixty-ninth  year;  while  I  am  ad- 
vancing in  my  seventy -sixth,  and  am  in  the  enjoyment  of  much 
bodily  comfort.' 

"  For  many  years  the  formation  of  a  New  Jersey  ITrs- 
TORICAL  Society  had  been  urged  in  the  public  prints  in 
various  parts  of  the  State,  and  at  different  periods  had  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  gentlemen  feeling  a  warm  interest 
in  the  subject. 

"  No  definite  measures,  however,  were  taken  to  combine 
and  carry  into  action  these  views  of  individuals  until  Jan- 
uary, 1845."  Tlie  first  meeting  for  the  purpose  was  lieM 
in  Trenton  on  the  l-3th  of  that  month  ;  and  at  a  subsequent 
Vol.  II.— 3G  473 


474  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

meeting  in  the  same  city,  in  the  City  Hall,  it  was  regularly 
organized  on  the  27th  of  February  following.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
D.  V.  McLean  of  Freehold,  very  prominent  among  the  promo- 
ters of  the  undertaking,  had  writen  to  Dr.  Miller,  informing 
him  of  the  project.  From  the  reply  of  the  latter,  dated  the 
18th  of  February,  the  following  extracts  are  taken  : — 

^  I  have,  for  a  long  time,  wished  an  association  of  this  kind 
to  be  formed ;  and,  indeed,  several  months  ago,  expressed  to  my 
respected  neighbor  and  friend,  Richard  S.  Field,  Esquire,  my 
decided  opinion,  and  earnest  desire  that  something  of  this  kind 
should  be  attempted.         '-^         * 

'If  I  were  twenty-five  years  younger  than  I  am,  I  would  make 
a  free  offer  of  myself,  not  only  as  one  of  your  associates,  but  as 
one  of  your  reliable  ivorkingmen,  to  tug  at  the  oar  of  labor  on 
your  behalf.  But  being  now  far  advanced  in  my  seventy- 
sixth  year,  and  having  very  many  of  the  infirmities  which  usu- 
ally attend  that  age  gathering  around  me,  I  dare  not  promise 
anything  but  my  good  wishes,  ray  fervent  prayers  for  your  suc- 
cess, and  my  disposition  to  cheer  on  those  who  are  able  and 
willing  to  work  in  your  service.  *  *  But  my  heart  will  be 
with  you ;  and  if  the  smallest  opportunity  of  serving  your  In- 
stitution should  ever  occur,  it  will  give  me  cordial  pleasure  to 
avail  myself  of  it.  I  will  thank  you  to  subscribe  my  name  to 
the  Constitution  which  may  be  formed,  and  to  consider  me  as 
one  of  your  enrolled  members,  and  responsible  for  the  pecuniary 
dues  attached  to  membership.'^ 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1845,  the  Society  met  in 
Princeton,  when  Dr.  Miller  delivered  an  address,  which 
was  requested  for  publication.^  He  afterwards,  on  the 
27th  of  May,  1847,  read  a  paper,  "  On  the  Rise  and  Pro- 
gress of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,"  which  was 
deposited  in  tlie  archivfis  of  the  Society,  to  be  given  to  the 
public  at  a  subsequent  day.^ 

Dr.  Miller's  opinion,  first  and  last,  of  the  American 
Tract  Society,  is  expressed  in  the  following  paragraphs 
from  a  letter  addressed,  on  the  5th  of  May,  to  the  Rev'd 
William  A.  Hallock,  Corresponding  Secretary.  After 
mentioning  an  engagement  which  would  prevent  his  attend- 
ing the  Anniversary  of  the  Society,  he  says, 

1 1  Proceedings  of  the  N.  J.  Hist.  Soc,  5-7. 

2  "An  Address  delivered  before  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society,  in  Prince- 
ton, September  4,  1845,  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D."  (1  Proceedings  of  the  New 
Jersey  Historical  Society,  81— 96.)— 8vo.  Pp.  IG. 

^  1  Proceedings,  1Z. 


1845.]  CORRESPONDEXCE    AND    DIARY.  475 

'  I  regret  this  the  more,  because  the  Society  having  been 
lately  assailed  on  account  of  some  of  its  proceedings,  it  grati- 
fies me  exceedingly  to  be  able  to  testify,  in  every  practicable 
way,  that  my  confidence  in  it  is  unimpaired,  and  that  I  consider 
it  as  a  privilege  and  duty  to  give  public  exi)ression  to  my 
high  estimate  of  its  eminent  usefulness,  and  its  just  claim  to 
public  patronage.  When  I  contemplate  the  amount  of  good 
which  the  Society  has  accomplished,  and  is  lil^ely  still  more 
extensively  to  accomplish,  by  its  volume  circulation,  and  by 
its  noble  system  of  colportage,  as  well  as  by  its  more  humble 
messengers  of  truth,  I  bless  God,  that  I  am  permitted  to  be 
connected  with  so  important  an  institution  ;  and  I  deeply  re- 
gret that  I  am  not  able  to  be  more  efficiently  active  in  its  ser- 
vice.' 

In  the  January  number  of  The  Missionary  Chronicle^  or- 
^an  of  the  Boards  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  appeared  the  first  of  a  series  of  four 
articles,  by  Dr.  Miller,  entitled  "Remarks  on  the  Mode  of 
conducting  the  Monthly  Concert  in  Prayer."  The  others 
followed  in  February,  March,  and  ^lay ;  and  the  whole, 
"in  a  revised  and  somewhat  different  form,"  was  issued  in 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  by  the  Presbyterian  Boar<l 
of  Publication,  as  one  of  its  permanent  volumes.^  In  writ- 
ing to  the  Rev'd  John  C.  Lowrie,-  on  the  24th  of  February, 
in  regard  to  these  articles,  Dr.  Miller  added,  '  Pray  for  me 
that  my  "leaf  may  not  wither"  in  old  age;  and  that  if  it 
be  the  Lord's  will,  I  may  not  live  a  day  beyond  my  useful- 
ness.' 

To  one  of  his  sons,  on  the  21st  of  June,  Dr.  Miller 
wrote. 

*  I  was  especially  gratified  with  the  evidence  that  you  begin 
to  feel  yourself  at  home  in  Frederick.  No  man  will  be  likely 
to  be  very  useful  to  any  people,  to  whom  he  does  not  feel  bound 
by  the  ties,  not  only  of'  pastoral  relation,  but  also  of  i)astoral  af- 
fection ;  and  no  one  will  be  likely  to  feel  much  of  this  toward  a 
people,  among  whom  he  regards  himself  as  only  a  temi)jrary 
sojourner,  and  from  whom  he  means  to  escape  as  soon  as  ho 
can.     If  you  wish  to  benefit,  spiritually,  your  fiock,  and,  at  the 

1  "  Letters  on  the  Observance  of  the  Munthly  Concert  in  Prayer  :  nd.lrcsseJ 
to  the  Members  of  the  Preslwtcrian  Church  in  the  Uniteil  States.  ^  I5y  Samuel 
Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey." 
— ISmo.  Pp.  104. 

2Since,  D.D. 


4Y6  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

same  time,  to  gain  spiritual  and  theological  strength  yourself, 
*  *  regard  them  as  your  beloved  people ;  try  more 
and  more  to  take  an  interest  in  them  ;  and  resolve,  in  the  fear 
of  God,  to  stay  as  long  with  them  as  Providence  shall  make 
it  your  duty  to  stay.  Depend  uj^on  it,  you  will  find  work 
enough  to  do  in  Frederick  to  employ  all  your  strength  ; 
and  the  more  cordially  and  diligently  you  give  yourself  to  do 
it,  the  more  you  will  be  likely  to  grow  in  preparation  for  a 
wider  field,  and  more  arduous  labors.  Let  me  beg  you  then  to 
sit  down  contented  and  cheerful  to  your  work  in  Frederick,  re- 
solved if  it  be  the  will  of  God,  to  spend  many  years,  or  even 
your  life  there.  If  you  should  remove  a  few  years  hence,  to  a 
larger  congregation,  I  ^^redict  that  you  will  look  back  upon 
your  present  settlement  as  the  happiest  portion  of  your  life. 
And  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  less  anxiety  you  manifest 
to  get  into  a  wider  sphere,  the  more  likely  you  will  be  to  reach  it. 

With  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  Janeway,  who,  during  a  long  min- 
istry, was  very  conspicuous,  and  greatly  beloved  and  vene- 
rated in  both  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Dutch  Church- 
es, Dr.  Miller  had  enjoyed  the  closest  ministerial  and  social 
intimacy.  In  1845,  Dr.  Janeway  published  his  work  on 
"The  Internal  Evidence  of  the  Holy  Bible,"  prefixed  to 
which  is  a  recommendatory  letter  from  Dr.  Miller,  dated 
the  23d  of  June,  1845.     He  says, 

"In  addressing  this  letter  to  you,  acknowledging  my  pleasure 
in  the  perusal  of  your  manuscript,  and  soliciting  your  consent 
to  its  publication,  I  have  two  motives.  One  is  disinterested  ; 
having  for  its  object  to  promote  the  giving  to  the  public,  through 
the  press,  a  work,  which  I  trust  will  be  the  means  of  doing 
good  long  after  you  and  I  shall  have  gone  to  our  eternal  rest. 
The  other  is  more  personal,  and  what  some  would,  perhaps,  call 
selfish.  It  is  to  place  a  record  on  this  humble  page,  which  may 
inform  my  children  that  the  beloved  and  venerated  author  of 
this  little  volume  was  their  father's  friend  ;  and  that  an  unbro- 
ken and  confiding  intercourse  of  nearly  fifty  years  united  us  to 
one  another,  and,  as  we  humbly  trust,  in  sanctified  fellowship, 
in  the  Church  of  God."  ' 

To  the  Rev.  Hugh  S.  Dickson^  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the 
28th  of  August, 

'  With  respect  to  the  points,  on  which  I  would  examine  a 
candidate  for  admission  to  membership  in  the  church  of  which 
I  was  pastor,  they  are  the  following:     1.  Knowledge:  2.  Gr- 
ip. 4.  2  Since,  D.  D. 


1845.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  4 


I  i 


thodoxy :  3.  Experimental  acquaintance  ^vith  the  triitli  :  4. 
Moral  character.  It*  you  asked  me,  how  much  kno\vledi:e  I 
would  demand,  I  should  say,  my  requisitions  would  be  endleir.sly 
diversified,  as  to  this  point,  accordini;  to  the  subjects  I  had  to 
deal  with.  If  I  were  examining  a  poor  African  shive,  *  * 
my  demands  on  the  score  of  distinct  doctrinal  knowledge, 
would  be  much  smaller,  than  if  I  were  examining  an  intelli- 
gent, educated  young  man  of  good  mind.  My  demands  would 
be  still  higher,  if  I  were  examining  a  man  of  elevated  intel- 
lectual character  in  advanced  life;  and  higher  still,  if  the  can- 
didate were  proposing  himself  for  the  ministry.  Where  there 
was  good  evidence  of  unaffected  seriousness  and  deep  sincerity, 
I  should  not  insist  on  a  clear,  discriminating  doctrinal  state- 
ment;  but  where  I  had  in  hand  a  person  of  acute,  strong  intel- 
lect, I  should  very  carefully  iufpiire,  whether  he  had  read  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  approved  the  system  of  doctrine  there 
taught.  In  short,  I  would  endeavor,  as  far  as  I  could,  to  act 
the  part  of  a  skilful  physician — to  prescribe  according  to  the 
character,  situation,  intellect  and  habits  bi'  the  patient. 

'  I  have  never  been  in  the  practice  of  requiring  from  candi- 
dates for  private  membership,  a  formal  subscription  to  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith.  Our  book  does  not  require  it ;  and  the  most 
consistent  Presbyterian  practice  has  not,  as  I  suppose,  called 
for  it.  Yet  I  take  every  opportunity  of  recommending  that 
Confession  in  the  most  formal  and  explicit  manner,  both  in  the 
pulpit  and  in  private  examinations. 

i^  ^  I  congratulate  you,  most  cordially,  in  advance,  on 
your  anticipated  marriage.  May  the  Lord  make  it  a  rich  and 
lasting  blessing  to  you,  both  as  a  man  and  a  minister.  Tell 
the  lady,  that,  when  she  goes  among  ])lain  people,  as  a  minis- 
ter's wife,  she  must  be  a  pattern  of  plain  and  unostentatious 
habits,  both  in  her  person  and  house  ;  and  she  may  rest  assured 
the  richest  and  gayest  of  her  parishioners  will  respect  her  the 
more  for  it.     May  God  bless  you  ! ' 

The  following  Extract  is  from  a  letter  of  the  1st  of  Oc- 
tober, lcS4o,  to  the  llev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.  D. 

*I  never,  on  any  occasion,  administered  the  Lord's  supper  in 
private;  yet  I  have  always  entertained  the  oi)inion,  that,  in 
such  a  case  as  you  have  described,  I  ought  to  do  it.  *  *  liut 
if  I  had  such  a  parishioner,  I  would,  without  hesitation,  take 
the  elders,  and  a  few  select  members  of  the  church — friends 
and  neighbors  of  the  sick  man — and  administer  to  him  the 
communion.  This  would  be  carrying  the  cluirch  to  the  indi- 
vidual, and  thus  still  making  it  a  church  ordinance. 


478  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CII.  41. 

'The  Lord's  Supper  has  been  administered  in  a  sick  cham- 
ber more  than  once,  in  Princeton,  since  I  came  hither — not 
by  me,  but  with  my  approbation.  *  *  In  every  case,  the 
elders  and  a  few  friends  were  assembled  to  j)artake  in  the  ordi- 
nance. 

'  You  are  right  in  your  impression,  that  I  was  accustomed  to 
give  the  same  opinion  in  my  lectures.' 

'  October  31,  1845.  *  ^  I  have  this  day  completed  my 
seventy-sixth  year.  Last  year  my  health  was  feeble.  *  * 
This  one,  by  the  mercy  of  a  kind  Providence,  it  is  greatly  bet- 
ter ;  and,  although  the  severe  heats  of  the  late  summer  were 
very  distressing  to  me,  and  weakened  me  exceedingly,  I  have, 
within  the  last  two  or  three  months,  been  mercifully  revived, 
and  am  now  as  well  as  I  have  been  for  several  years.     I  am, 

indeed,  a  wonder  to  myself. 

ii',  t'  ^  ^  *  *  *  * 

'  I  am  still  able,  blessed  be  God  !  to  discharge  my  duties  as 
Professor,  with  nearly  my  usual  ease  and  strength.' 

The  Cincinnati  of  New  Jersey,  with  the  co-operation  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Elizabeth,  erected  in  the 
grave-yard  of  that  church,  a  beautiful  monument  to  the 
memory  of  the  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  a  Presbyterian  cler- 
gyman of  Revolutionary  renown,  and  a  martyr  to  the  cause 
of  American  liberty.  This  "monument  was  dedicated,  by 
appropriate  ceremonies,  on  the  24th  of  November,1845, — 
the  sixty-fourth  anniversary  of  Mr.  Caldwell's  death.  An 
appropriate  and  impressive  address  was  delivered  on  the 
occasion  "  by  Dr.  Miller,  which  was  afterwards  published.^ 
Upon  sending,  on  the  24th  of  December,  the  manuscript  of 
this  address.  Dr.  Miller  wrote  to  Dr.  Murray, 

'  My  dear  Brother,  I  take  for  granted  that  you  will  look 
over  the  manuscript  before  it  goes  to  press.  I  request  you 
to  do  so  carefully;  and  if  there  be  a  word,  a  sentence,  or  a 
paragraph  that  you  think  ought  to  be  modified,  let  me  know 
your  opinion,  and  I  will  consider  it.  If  I  had  been  writing  a 
piece  on  Church  Government,  or  Ecclesiastical  History,  I 
should  probably  be  willing  to  risk  it  on  my  own  judgment^ 

^  Dr.  Nicholas  Murray,  3  in  Sprague's  Annals,  227,  228.  "An  address  deliv- 
ered in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  November  2-tth, 
]S45,  on  the  Dedication  of  a  JMonumcnt  erected  to  the  Memory  of  the  Rev. 
James  Caldwell,  formerly  Pastor  of  the  said  Church,  who  fell  by  the  hand  of 
an  Assassin,  November  24th,  1781.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princetcn,  New  Jersey.  Elizabethtown:  1S4G." — 
Svo.  Pp.  17. 


1846.]  CORRESPONDENCE   AND    DURY.  479 

But  I  have  some  distrust  of  myself,  when  I  ^^o  out  of  my  usual 
track.  I  liope  you  and  Brother  jMa<^io  will  not  suller  your 
old  father  to  say,  in  print,  an  unwise  thing,  without  a  kind  ef- 
fort to  correct,  or  prevent  it.' 

To  the  Rev.  Professor  Joseph  Aldcn,'  of  "Williams  Col- 
lege, inquiring  for  sources  of  information  respectini;  Oliver 
Cromwell  and  the  Puritans,  he  wrote,  on  the  -jth  of  Decem- 
ber, 

'  Your  letter  of  November  28  reached  me  yesterday.  It 
found  me  in  a  sick  room,  laboring  under  a  severe  catarrh  *  * 
You  will  not,  of  course,  expect  a  long  letter  in  reply.  But  the 
alternative,  which  you  seem  to  admit,  of  not  giving  any  reply 
at  all,  I  have  too  much  respect  for  you,  and  too  much  interest 
iu  the  subject  of  your  letter,  to  think  of  for  a  moment. 

'  Justice  has  never  yet  been  done,  in  my  opinion,  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  Puritans,  nor  to  the  character  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
That  there  was  some  machiner//  about  his  plans  of  action, 
Avhich  was  not  unobjectionable,  I  am  afraid  cannot  be  denied  ; 
but  that  he  was  a  man  of  colossal  talents,  of  wonderful  energy, 
and  of  genuine  patriotism,  I  hold  to  be  undeniable.  It  will  be 
a  noble  task  to  clear  away,  reconstruct  and  adorn  his  history.' 

In  his  diary  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'January  1,  1846.  *  *  It  pleased  God,  yesterday,  to  re- 
move Miss  Elizabeth  Sergeant,  Mrs.  Miller's  sister,  residing  in 
Philadelphia,  by  death ;  and  it  becomes  my  duty  to  go  to  that 
city  this  morning,  for  the  purpose  of  being  present  at  the  fu- 
neral early  to-morrow.  But  such  an  occasion  and  such  a  duty 
are  by  no  means  out  of  keeping  with  the  character  and  the 
import  of  this  anniversary.  On  the  first  day  of  the  by-gone 
year,  our  dear  sister  little  thought  that,  before  the  commence- 
ment of  another,  she  would  take  leave  of  this  world  and  all  its 
possessions  and  enjoyments.  And,  in  I'act,  how  prone  are  we 
all  to  pass  from  month  to  month,  and  from  year  to  year,  with- 
out recollecting,  in  the  practical  and  solemn  manner  that  we 
ought,  that  a  few  weeks  or  days  may  close  ourmortal  lives,  and 
place  us  before  that  dread  tribunal,  where  we  must  give  an  ac- 
count of  our  stewardship,  and  of  all  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body.     *     * 

*  O  my  covenant  God  in  Christ  I  where  shall  I  be  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  on  which  I  have  this  day  entered?  Lord, 
thou  knowest !  I  desire  not  to  be  solicitous  about  anytliing  but 
being  found  serving  thee  and  glorifying  thy  name.      With  re- 

1  Now,  D.D. 


480  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

gard  to  the  time  and  circumstances  of  my  departure,  I  would 
say,  from  the  heart,  Lord,  when  thou  wilt,  and  ivhere  thou  wilt, 
and  how  thou  wilt.  I  desire  to  have  no  will  about  it.  Father, 
not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done.     Father,  glorify  thy  name.' 

The  Rev.  Oscar  Harris  wrote,  requesting  advice  upon 
several  points  of  Ecclesiastical  proceeding.  Dr.  Miller 
said  in  reply,  on  the  4th  of  September, 

'With  regard  to  your  second  query — What  ought  to  be  done 
with  delinquents  who  have  been  suspended  only,  and  have  re- 
mained many  years  in  this  situation,  without  reformation,  and 
without  being  visited  with  any  heavier  sentence  ?  — It  is  evi- 
dent that  much  laxness  and  negligence  have  prevailed,  in  many 
of  our  churches,  as  to  this  point.  And  yet,  if  I  were  called 
upon  to  prescribe  a  remedy  for  long  continued  past  neglect,  I 
should  be  at  a  loss  to  lay  down  a  definite  and  single  rule  ap- 
plicable to  all  cases.  I  would  rather  prescribe  a  remedy  for 
each  case,  adapted  to  its  peculiar  circumstances.  If  a  member 
has  been  under  suspension  for  a  number  of  years,  and  is  known 
to  all  the  congregation  to  be  suspended,  and  never  comes  to  the 
communion  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  though  he  is  not  reformed, 
there  is  no  remarkable  or  conspicuous  increase  of  immorality; 
and  the  matter  has  been  left  to  sleep  for  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  ;  I  should  not  think  it,  on  the  whole  for  edification,  to 
call  the  matter  up  anew,  and  publicly  excommunicate  the  offen- 
der. But  if  a  member  suspended,  for  example  for  tippling 
habils,  should  gradually  pass  from  tippling  to  degrading,  bru- 
tish sottish ness ;  then  I  should  think  a  proper  time  ought  to  be 
taken  to  proceed  to  a  public  excommunication,  according 
to  the  prescription  of  our  book.  During  all  the  twenty 
years  that  I  was  connected  as  a  pastor  with  the  United 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  the  city  of  New  York,  we  had, 
so  far  as  I  remember,  but  one  excommunication.  Suspension, 
and  that  only,  covered  all  the  other  cases  of  continued  delin- 
quency. I  do  not  say  that  this  was  always  right ;  but  I  merely 
state  the  fact.  Negligence  in  such  matters  is  not  confined 
to  your  congregation. 

'  With  regard  to  your  third  query,  I  should  say,  that  if  I 
were  a  pastor,  and  a  pious  Methodist,  or  Episcopalian,  or  Sece- 
der,  who  stood  aloof  from  my  communion,  should  apply  to  me 
to  baptize  a  child,  I  should  most  readily,  and  without  hesita- 
tion, do  it.  And  this  I  believe  to  be  the  common  practice  of 
our  Pastors  in  similar  cases.  As  a  general  rule,  I  feel  myself 
at  liberty  to  baptize  the  child  of  any  parents,  for  whom    I 


1846.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  481 

should  perform  tlie  service  if  they  belonged  to  my  own  com- 
munion.' 

The  following  is  from  the  diary  : — 

*  October  24,  1846.  This  is  the  anniversary  of  my  marriage. 
Five-and-forty  years  ago,  I  became  united  to  the  best  of  wives, 
and  have  never  ceased,  from  that  hour  to  the  present,  to  rejoice 
in  the  union.  *  "*=  1  am  thankful  for  the  following  rea- 
sons. 

*I.  It  was  not  my  own  wisdom  that  selected  this  precious 
companion.  I  was  led  to  make  the  choice  by  what  we  are  ac- 
customed to  call  "  pure  accident."  The  circumstance  of  hear- 
ing her  strongly  recommended  to  another,  in  a  confidential 
conversation,  not  intended  to  reach  my  ear,  determined  me  to 
seek  her  hand.  But  for  this  circumstance,  there  is  no  proba- 
bility that  I  should  have  dreamed  of  the  connexion.  *  * 
The  Lord  chose  for  me  far  better  than  I  could  have  chosen  for 
myself. 

'  II.  What  a  mercy  that  we  have  been  permitted  to  live  to- 
gether so  long.  A  large  portion  of  our  friends  and  accpiain- 
tances,  who  were  married  about  the  same  time  with  ourselves, 
have  been  separated — most  of  them  by  death,  some  by  crime. 
Numbers  of  them  have  been  married  two,  three — a  few,  four — 
times  ;  thus  mixing  families  of  children  and  laying  a  founda- 
dation  for  most  uncomfortable  contests  about  property.  How 
can  I  be  thankful  enough  that  the  providence  of  Goil  has  as- 
signed to  me  only  one  wife,  one  set  of  children,  and  one  interest 
in  regard  to  the  worldly  possessions  which  he  has  bestowed  up- 
on us.     "^     ^^ ' 

'October  31,  1846.  *  *  This  day  completes  my  seventy- 
seventh  year.  I  spend  a  portion  of  it,  as  usual,  in  thank«i,nving 
and  special  devotion.  *  *  contrary  to  my  own  anticipations, 
the  Lord  has  spared  me,  and,  during  the  last  year,  favored  me 
with  an  amount  of  comfortable  health  and  strenfrth,  which  I 
have  not  enjoyed  for  several  preceding  years.  My  prayer  is, 
that  a  deep  sense  of  these  mercies  may  at  once  humble  and  ani- 
mate me;  and  that,  while  I  praise  the  I^>rd  tor  si)aring  my 
life,  I  may  repent  in  dust  and  ashes  before  him,  that  it  has 
manifested  so  little  gratitude  and  devotedness  to  my  heavenly 
Benefactor.     *     * 

'But,  while  I  feel  bound  to  praise  the  Lord  for  thus  length- 
ening out  my  days,  and  following  me  with  so  many  mercies,  I 
cannot  conceal  from  myself,  that  my  life  is  drawing  to  a  close ; 
that  the  infirmities  of  age  are  sensibly  gathering  around  me ; 


482  FAILI^^G    SERENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

and  that  my  last  account  is  near.  Blessed  Saviour !  let  me 
never,  for  a  moment,  lose  sight  of  this.  Let  the  anticipation  of 
appearing  before  thee  habitually  and  deeply  impress  my  mind. 
While  I  live,  let  me  live  to  thee ;  and  when  I  die,  let  me  die  to 
thee.  And  Oh,  let  the  thoughts  of  meeting  thee,  while  they 
are  solemn,  be  pleasant  to  my  soul.  O  my  blessed  Redeemer, 
let  the  idea  of  being  absent  from  the  body,  and  present  with 
thee,  be  my  joy  and  comfort  in  this  pilgrimage.  I  do  not  ask 
to  live  one  hour  beyond  my  usefulness.  Forsake  me  not  in  my 
old  age  :  cast  me  not  off  when  my  strength  faileth ;  but  be  the 
strength  of  my  heart  and  my  portion  forever.     *     * 

'  While  returning  thanks  for  my  continued  life  and  health,  I 
here  record  it,  for  the  benefit  of  my  children,  that  1  think  much 
of  this  health  is  owing,  under  God,  to  my  habits  for  many  years 
past : — to  my  total  abstinence,  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
from  all  intoxicating  drinks ;  to  my  never  having  used  tobac- 
co in  any  form  ;  to  my  practice  of  passing  two  days,  every 
week,  without  the  use  of  animal  food  ;  to  the  habit  of  bathing 
my  head  and  feet  in  cold  water  every  morning  of  my  life ;  to 
vigilance  in  keej^ing  the  skin  clean  by  frequent  spunging  with 
tepid  water;  and  to  my  persevering  care  to  take  several  hours 
of  gentle  exercise,  in  the  open  air,  every  good  day.  These 
rules  I  have  diligently  and  indefatigably  observed  for  many 
years  ;  and  I  have  felt  bound  to  do  all  this,  that  I  might  glo- 
rify God  in  body  as  well  as  in  spirit.  Blessed  be  his  name, 
that  he  has  enabled  me  to  persevere.' 

The  Rev.  Drury  Lacy,^  as  moderator  of  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina,  had  been  applied  to  by  one  presbytery,  the 
session  of  the  Church  of  Fayetteville  in  which  the  Synod 
was  to  meet,  and  eight  or  ten  ministers  and  elders  belong- 
ing to  two  other  presbyteries,  to  postpone  the  meeting,  on 
account  of  the  sickliness  of  Fayetteville,  and  the  absence, 
at  their  country  residences,  of  the  families  which  were  ex- 
pected to  entertain  the  members.  Mr.  Lacy,  doubtful  of 
his  authority,  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller,  and  three  other  minis- 
ters for  advice.  All  gave  substantially  the  same  counsel. 
The  following  extracts  are  from  Dr.  Miller's  reply  of  the 
18th  of  March. 

'  I  beg  leave  to  say,  with  unwavering  confidence,  that,  in  my 
judgment,  you  have  the  power  which  the  Presbytery  of  Fay- 
etteville request  you  to  exercise;  and  that,  if  I  were  in  your 
situation,  I  should,  without  the  least  hesitation,  comply  with 
that  request.  

t    1  Since,  D.D. 


1847.]  CORRESPONDE^^CE   AND    DIARY.  483 

About  twelve  or  fourteen  years  ago,  our  General  Asscm])ly 
sent  down  an  overture  to  the  Presbyteries,  to  the  effect  of  for- 
mally investing  the  moderator  of  a  Synod  with  the  i>ower  of 
calling  a  pro  re  nata  meeting  of  his  synod,  when  reguhirly 
requested  so  to  do.  I  opposed  the  overture,  fully  believ- 
ing that  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  our  Form  of  Government 
already  gave  that  power  to  the  moderator  of  every  synod.  i\Iy 
opinion,  however,  did  not  prevail.  The  overture  was  sent  down. 
But,  if  I  remember  correctly,  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries 
never  responded;  and,  of  course,  the  plan  of  having  such  a  for- 
mal, explicit  rule  in  our  Form  of  Government  was  defeated. 

*  I  remain,  however,  of  the  same  opinion  as  before,  that  the 
moderator  of  a  synod  already  possesses  the  power  in  question 
in  as  plenary  a  manner  as  a  formal  rule  could  give  it  to  him. 
And  as  the  request  which  has  been  made  to  you  is  connected 
with  no  party  movements,  and  cannot  possibly  be  made  sub- 
servient to  any  sinister  purpose,  but  is  founded  on  considera- 
tions of  humanity  and  benevolence,  I  think  it  ought  to  be  com- 
plied "svith.' 

'About  forty  years  ago,  if  I  remember  correctly,  the  yellow 
fever  unexpectedly  appeared  in  New  York,  in  the  month  of 
September,  a  few  weeks  before  the  Synod  of  New  York  was  ap- 
pointed to  meet  by  adjournment  in  that  city.  About  five  or 
six  weeks  before  the  day  of  meeting  arrived,  several  ministers 
and  elders  requested  the  Moderator  to  convene  the  Synod,  by 
his  circular,  on  the  same  day  to  which  it  stood  adjourned,  at  a 
different  place.  He  did  so,  and  I  never  heard  a  lisp  of  objec- 
tion to  the  measure. 

*If,  therefore,  I  were  in  your  situation,  I  would  comjily  with 
the  request  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  without  hesitation 
or  scruple.' 

Dr.  Lacy  says, 

'  On  receiving  these  letters  I  had  them  published  for  the  in- 
formation of  all  concerned,  but  especially  of  those  who  had  any 
scruple  about  my  right,  as  Moderator,  to  postp(>ne  the  meeting 
of  Synod.  I  issued  my  circular  letter.  At  the  meeting  of 
Synod,  a  few  of  the  brethren  of  Concord  Presbytery  protested 
against  my  action,  and  the  matter  was  carried  up  to  the  General 
Assembly  that  met  at  Baltimore,  and  what  I  had  done  *  * 
was  pronounced  "irregular I"  Not  long  after  I  received  an- 
other very  pleasant  letter  from  Dr.  Miller,  reviewing  the  action 
of  the  Assembly,  and  comforting  me  about  the  "  waywardness 
of  turbulent  spirits." ' 

It  must  be  confessed  that  none  of  the  precedents  ]>lcaded 
exactly  met  the  difficulty.     Perhaps  the  better  plan  would 


484  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

have  been,  to  have  apprized  the  members  of  the  Synod,  by 
circular  letter,  that  there  could  be  no  meeting,  except  of 
two  or  more  to  adjourn  to  another  time,  under  the  third  of 
the  "General  Rules  for  Judicatories."  Then,  unless  a  quo- 
rum of  "wayward"  and  "turbulent  spirits"  had  assem- 
bled, and,  refusing  postponement,  insisted  upon  proceeding 
to  business,  the  matter  might  have  been  easily  arranged 
by  adjournment  to  a  proper  day. 

Dr.  Miller,  toward  the  close  of  life,  was  evidently  afraid 
that  he  might  not  have,  in  a  becoming  degree,  the  "  grace 
of  resignation."  By  this  fear,  perhaps,  as  much  as  by  his 
sense  of  weaning  strength,  he  was  influenced  in  penning  the 
following  letter. 

*  To  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

*  Reverend  and  respected  Brethren, 

'  It  is  now  more  than  three  and  thirty  years  since  I  com- 
menced my  labors  in  the  Seminary  over  which  you  preside. 
During  the  greater  part  of  this  time,  as  is  well  known  to  the 
Board,  I  have  been  charged  with  three  distinct  branches  of  in- 
struction— Ecclesiastical  History,  Church  Government,  and 
the  Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons. 

'Being  now  far  advanced  in  my  seventy-eighth  year,  I  begin 
to  feel  that  some  relief  from  a  portion  of  the  duties  of  my  of- 
fice has  become  desirable,  and  indeed  necessary  to  my  health 
and  comfort.  For  the  attainment  of  this  object,  I  beg  leave  to 
state,  that  a  temporary  arrangement  is  contemplated,  which 
will  maintain  the  full  course  of  instruction,  as  heretofore,  and 
at  the  same  time,  relieve  me  from  the  discharge  of  a  portion  of 
my  present  labors.  This,  if  I  mistake  not,  can  be  accomplished, 
not  only  without  prejudice  to  the  Seminary,  but  with  manifest 
and  great  advantage. 

'To  facilitate  this  change,  and  to  provide  for  the  additional 
expense  which  may  necessarily  attend  its  adoption,  I  do  hereby 
declare  my  resignation  of  one-third  part  of  my  salary,  (8600,) 
which,  if  I  mistake  not,  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  any  addition- 
al expenditure  which  may  grow  out  of  the  proposed  arrange- 
ment. 

'The  design  of  the  present  communication  is  to  obtain  the 
sanction  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  the  contemj^lated  plan  of 
relief. 

'With  a  grateful  sense  of  the  uniform  kindness  and  indul- 
gence with  which  my  services  in  the  Seminary  have  been 
treated  by  the  Board  of  Directors;  and  with  fervent  prayers 


1847.]  CORRESPOXDEXCE    AND   DIARY.  485 

for  the  growing  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  the  institution 
committed  to  their  care,  I  am,  reverend  Brethren,  most  re- 
spectfully, your  friend  and  fellow  laborer  in  the  house  of  God, 

'Princeton,  )  Samuel  Miller. 

*  May  17,  1847.'  j 

The  Rev.  Smith  Sturges,  on  becoming  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Black  Rock,  New  York,  found  in 
use  in  that  church  two  formularies,  fjuite  diftcrent  as  to 
some  important  doctrines,  each  styled,  "  Articles  of  Faith 
and  a  Covenant,  etc.  ;"  one  of  wliich  was  always  read  from 
the  pulpit,  and  publicly  assented  to  by  candidates  for  ad- 
mission to  full  communion  ;  the  congregation  afterwards 
rising  in  token  of  their  approval  of  the  profession  thus 
made.  Mr.  Sturges,  finding  it  somewhat  difficult  to  decide 
between  the  rival  claims  of  these  two  formularies,  and  really 
liking  neither,  set  them  both  aside,  and  adopted  the  proper 
Presbyterian  plan  of  merely  announcing  in  public  the 
names  of  those  who  had  been  examined  and  admitted  by 
the  church-session.  This  departure  from  previous  usage, 
however,  caused  a  good  deal  of  dissatisfaction  ;  and  the 
pastor  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller  for  his  opinion,  which  was  given, 
under  date  of  the  21st  of  June,  as  follows : — 

'  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the  whole  practice,  in 
many  Presbyterian  churches,  of  making  the  candidates  for 
communion  come  forward  before  the  congregation  and  publicly 
covenant  with  them,  is  not  a  child  of  Presbyterianism,  but 
wholly  inconsistent  with  it,  and  the  real  offspring  of  Congrega- 
tionalism. *  '^  The  theory  of  Congregationalism  is  that 
the  male  communicants  are,  by  a  popular  vote,  to  govern  the 
church,  to  examine  and  admit  candidates  for  membership,  to 
try,  to  censure,  or  to  suspend  or  excommunicate  all  ottenders 
against  the  laws  of  Christ.  In  accordance  with  this  theory 
members  are  admitted  by  vote,  and  are  publicly  and  popularly 
received,  by  a  solemn  ceremony,  in  the  j)resenco  of  the  congre- 
gation. In  the  Presbyterian  system  this  is  all  out  of  place. 
The  church  with  us  is  regulated  and  governed  by  the  Scji.tion, 
made  up  of  the  representative.^  of  the  church  members.  They 
are  to  receive  members  into  the  church  ;  when  ihcj/  have  ex- 
amined the  candidates  and  voted  to  receive  them  their  recep- 
tion is  complete;  and  everything  beyond  this  is  supererogation. 
Our  fathers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  know  nothing  of  the 
public  parade  in  the  middle  aisle  now  so  common.  Our  Direc- 
tory  for  the  worship  of  God,  while  it  provides  for  every  other 


486  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

part  of  the  public  service,  says  nothing  of  this ;  and  when  I 
first  settled  in  the  ministry,  as  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  "United 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  the  City  of  New  York,"  fifty-five 
years  ago,  we  had  no  usage  of  this  kind,  or  anything  like  it. 
The  members  of  the  Session  conversed  with  the  applicants  for 
admission,  and,  being  satisfied,  took  a  vote  and  received  them, 
and  no  further  ceremony  followed,  excepting  that,  at  the  pre- 
paratory lecture,  on  the  Friday  evening  previous  to  the  com- 
munion, the  names  of  all  who  had  been  admitted  were  an- 
nounced to  the  congregation. 

'  In  process  of  time,  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Rodgers  and 
after  I  had  left  the  city,  the  usage  now  practiced  in  many,  in- 
deed most  of  the  New  York  churches,  came  into  use,  and  was 
evidently  derived  from  the  habits  of  the  Congregationalists  of 
New  England.  The  ceremony,  as  commonly  managed,  is 
solemn,  and  is  capable  of  being  made  very  impressive;  but  it 
forms  no  part  of  our  system  ;  is  not  provided  for  in  our  books ; 
has  no  sanction  in  the  practice  of  our  venerated  fathers  ;  and 
certainly  is  calculated  to  contradict  and  throw  into  the  back- 
ground the  essential  principle  that  with  us  the  Session  forms 
the  governing  body.     *     * 

'When  persons  not  born  of  pious  parents,  and  not  baptized 
in  infancy,  are  baptized  in  adult  age — of  course  in  their  own 
name — our  Directory  enjoins,  that  they  be  baptized  in  public, 
and  prescribes  a  form  for  that  purpose,  or  at  least  a  general 
direction  ;  but  it  prescribes  no  form  for  the  public  reception 
to  the  communion  of  those  who  have  been  baptized  in  their 
infancy,  and  whom  the  Session  have  admitted  to  full  com- 
munion.    "^     * 

'  With  respect  to  abridged  and  diversified  "  Confessions  of 
Faith,"  they  are  equally  inconsistent  with  our  system,  and  still 
more  mischievous.  They  are  adapted  to  reflect  on  our  excel- 
lent Confession  by  putting  something  different,  and  not  so  good, 
in  its  place.  We  were  never  in  the  habit,  in  my  early  days, 
of  calling  upon  candidates  for  communion  formally  to  sub- 
scribe the  Westminster  Confession';  but  it  was  a  part  of  the 
business  of  the  Session,  to  examine  them  with  that  Confession 
in  view,  and  to  ascertain  that  they  received  and  adopted  all  its 
leading  doctrines.  The  fact  is,  that  when  every  particular 
pastor  feels  at  liberty  to  draw  up  a  confession  of  faith  for  his 
own  flock,  and  acts  accordingly,  we  shall  have  as  many  confes- 
sions as  pastors,  and  of  course  endless  diversities  of  doctrinal 
belief  I  feel  all  the  force  of  the  evil  which  you  state  as  arising 
from  this  diversity.  Nothing  is  more  adapted  to  break  up  the 
harmony  and  oneness  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  than  the  in- 


184T.]  CORRESPOXDENCE    AND    DIARY.  487 

dulgcnce  of  such  a  turn  for  diversity  of  Confessions.  But  liow 
shall  we  remedy  these  two  evils  so  extensively  ditt'used,  and  so 
firmly  rooted  in  the  feelings  and  prejudices  of  so  many  good  peo- 
ple ?  Hlc  labor,  hoc  opus  est.  I  think  the  friends  of  a  sound  or- 
thodox change  ought  to  proceed  with  caution.  It  ought  not  to 
be  made  a  breaking  point.  I  should  say,  pastors  ought  to  be- 
gin by  satisfying  the  minds  and  gaining  the  confidence  of  some 
of  the  leading,  influential  individuals  in  their  respective 
charges,  and  when  they  have  gained  this,  the  work  will  be  half 
done.  The  truth  is,  several  of  our  Old  School  churches  in  the 
city  of  New  York  have  gotten  into  these  practices,  and  scarcely 
know  how  to  get  out  of  them.  It  will  probably  be  a  gradual 
work.  I  agree  with  you  that  the  business  rc([uires  })rudcnce 
and  wise  management ;  and  that  nothing,  will  be  gained  by 
pressing  matters  prematurely.     *     *  ' 

'  The  foregoing  letter,'  says  Mr.  Sturges,  '  was  immediately 
read  by  all  concerned,  and  had  the  effect  of  satisfying  all  minds, 
and  restoring  that  church  to  Presbyterian  order  on  such  occa- 
sions. But  the  reformation  did  not  stop  with  us.  The  com- 
munication was  read  by  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  presby- 
tery to  which  we  belonged  ;  [in  many  other  churches]  the  same 
good  results  followed;  and  we  think  we  are  not  too  sanguine 
in  our  expectation,  that  this  excellent  letter  will  yet  set  in  order 
our  entire  Synod,  with  reference  to  these  things.' 

The  first  Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  was  celebrated  on  the  21>tli  of  June,  1847.  In  the 
afternoon,  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  delivered  the 
Centenary  Discourse.  "  The  exercises  were  opened,"  says 
the  published  account  of  the  proceedings,  '•  with  a  deeply 
moving  and  most  appropriate  prayer  by  the  venerable  Dr. 
Miller."^ 

At  the  dinner,  an  occasion  of  higli  academic  festivity, 
after  the  regular  toasts,  Dr.  Miller  proposed 

"The  Reverend  Ashbel  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D.— Our  venerated 
eighth  President:  We  honour  him  as  the  first  Head  of  a  College 
in^'the  United  States,  who  introduced  the  study  of  the  Bible  as  a 
regular  part  of  the  Collegiate  course.  Sera  in  ccclum  oj^cemlat! 
And  when  he  shall  be  taken  up,  we  may  well  say  with  the  be- 
reaved Prophet  of  old— .%  F<dher,  mj  Father,  the  chariots  of 
Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof!'' 
He  then  offered 
"The  Reverend  Dr.  James  AV.  Alexander— Our  able  and 

1  P.  6. 


488  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CII.  41. 

honoured  Centenary  Historian.  We  thank  him  that  he  has 
so  instructively  and  eloquently  told  us  what  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  has  done.  We  hope  he  will  live  to  see  her  accomplish 
greater  things  than  these."^ 

To  one  of  his  sons  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  12th  of  July, 

'We  are  distressed  at  the  account  you  give  of  your  sick 
family,  and  of  the  burdens  which  must  inevitably  fall  upon 
your  dear  and  precious  wife  in  her  delicate  state  of  health ;  and 
your  beloved  mother  and  I  have  instantly  agreed,  not  to  invite 
you,  but  to  lay  our  commands  upon  you,  immediately  to  bring 
our  daughter  Margaret  and  little  Maggie  to  Princeton.  This 
will,  at  once,  take  her  away  from  the  fatigues  of  house- 
keeping, and  from  all  the  danger  of  a  questionable  climate, 
neither  of  which  she  ought,  at  the  present  oppressive  season,  to 
attempt  to  encounter,  and  bring  her  to  a  place  where  she  may 
enjoy  perfect  repose,  and  one  of  the  finest  climates  in  the  solar 
system.  Mother  says,  and  I  join  in  it.  Come  right  off:  do  not 
stop  an  hour  even  in  Philadelphia,  which  is  oppressively  warm, 
and  probably  not  quite  safe  on  the  score  of  health.  My  dear 
Son,  we  are  in  good  earnest  in  issuing  this  command,  and  hojDe 
you  will  obey  it  without  the  loss  of  an  hour.  Give  our  love  to 
our  dear  daughter.  Don't  listen  to  any  objection  or  proposal 
of  delay;  but,  while  you  have  strength  and  opportunity,  come 
to  the  Old  Mill,  where  you  have  spent  so  many  profitable,  if 
not  comfortable,  days.' 

One  of  his  former  pupils  wrote  to  Dr.  Miller,  inquiring 
how  the  relations  of  an  Episcopal  minister  were  to  be 
transferred  to  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  following 
extracts  are  from  his  answer,  of  the  26th  of  July. 

*The  case  of  the  worthy  and  pious  Episcopal  brother  to  which 
you  refer  is  a  very  plain  one ;  for  though  high  church  Episco- 
palians do  not  acknowledge  our  ordination,  yet  we  acknowledge 
theirs.  In  fact  the  method  of  ordaining  to  "  Priest's  orders," 
in  that  denomination,  makes  it,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,. 
Presbyterian  ordination — being  an  act,  strictly  speaking,  of  a 
"  Presbytery."  Of  course,  on  the  most  rigid  interpretation  of 
our  own  principles,  we  must  recognise  such  an  ordination  as 
valid  and  not  to  be  repeated, 

*  And  then,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  such  a  transfer  of 
ecclesiastical  relation  is  to  be  effected,  there  is  no  real  difficulty. 
You  are  aware,  that  we  should  never  receive  a  minister  from 
any  Presbyterian  denomination,  without  a  regular  certificate  of 
dismission  and  of  good  standing  from  the  body  from  which  he 

»P.  30. 


1847.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  480 

came.  But,  in  the  present ' case,  such  a  certificate  is  not  to  be 
expected.  This  gentleman's  bishop  wouhl  not  acknowkdge 
your  Presbytery,  sufficiently  even  to  give  a  letter  certifying  Ins 
good  standing.  All  that  is  to  be  looked  for,  in  such  a  case,  is, 
laying  before  the  Presbytery  written  or  oral  testimony,  setting 
forth  that  the  candidate  for  admission  is  of  exemplary  moral 
and  religious  character,  and  is  considered  as  sound  in  the 
faith. 

'  When  the  candidate  appears  before  the  Presbytery  with 
such  testimonials,  the  next  step  will  be  to  converse  with  him 
briefly,  but  freely  and  fraternally,  on  the  subject  of  exj)erimontal 
religion,  and  a  few  leading  points  of  christian  doctrine.  When 
this  is  done,  the  wliole  thing  may  be  dispatcher!  in  five  minutes. 
There  is  no  prescribed  delay  in  such  cases.  When  the  candi- 
date has  subscribed  our  public  standards,  according  to  the  usual 
formula,  nothing  more  is  necessary.  He,  of  course,  from  that 
moment,  takes  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  Presbytery. 

*  As  you  have  not  told  me  so  much  as  the  name  of  the  re- 
spected brother  concerning  whom  you  ask  counsel,  I  am  of 
course  perfectly  impartial  in  the  opinion  above  given.  If  he 
has  numerous  and  respectable  Episcopal  connections,  I  should 
be  most  agreeably  disappointed  if  he  should  be  able  to  tear 
hinwelf  awcnj  from  them.  I  predict  that  he  will  not  he  able  to 
do  this.  Opposition  of  the  most  determined  kind  will  be  used 
to  prevent  his  taking  the  step,  and  no  stone  left  unturned  to 
render  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible.  I  hope,  however,  that  he 
will  be  able  to  execute  his  plan ;  and  I  pray  God,  that  he  may 
prove  a  rich  blessing  to  our  church. 

'You  seem  to  intimate  that,  if  he  should  join  our  church,  he 
may  not  find  it  convenient,  or  possible,  to  take  pastoral  charge. 
This,  though  desirable,  is  by  no  means  absolutely  necessary. 
Pie  may  be  greatly  useful  in  the  ministry,  without  becoming  a 
regular  pastor.  He  may  preach  nearly  as  much  as  many,  nay 
as  most  pastors  do.  But,  if  he  comes  to  us,  I  should  greatly 
deprecate  his  taking  his  place  as  a  layman.  Give  no  counte- 
nance to  this.  I  should  be  sorry  to  see  any  one  who  can  prcai'h, 
and  who  has  the  heart  to  do  it,  giving  it  up.  Much  as  1  should 
be  disposed  to  welcome  any  one  into  our  body  of  whom  you 
thought  well,  I  should  regret  to  receive  one  who  was  willing  to 
lay  aside  the  ministry.' 

As  Dr.  Miller  predicted,  the  transfer  of  relation,  about 
which  his  advice  had  been  asked,  never  took  place.  The 
reasons  of  this,  however,  are  to  the  present  writer  entirely 
unknown. 

Vol.  II — C7 


490  FAILING   STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

The  following  letters  passed  between   Chancellor  Kent, 
of  New  York,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  and  Dr.  Miller. 

'My  dear  Sir,  New  York,  September  6th,  1847. 

*I  have  had  a  strong  inclination,  for  some  time  past,  to 
avail  myself  of  a  fit  opportunity  to  unite  myself  to  some  church 
of  the  Protestant  character,  by  making  a  public  manifestation 
of  my  belief  and  hopes  in  the  Christian  dispensation  of  grace. 
I  was  educated  in  the  Congregational  Church,  while  I  lived  at 
Norwalk,  in  Connecticut,  with  my  grandparents,  and  at  Dan- 
bury  for  several  years,  and  while  I  was  in  the  course  of  my 
education  at  Yale  College.  Afterwards,  at  Poughkeepsie  and 
Albany,  I  attended  church  as  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
congregation ;  and  I  have  always  continued  in  that  worship, 
until  circumstances  and  my  removal  in  town  rendered  it  most 
inconvenient  to  attend  either  Dr.  Phillips'  or  Dr.  E.  Mason's 
church;  and  as  my  children  had  all  become  Episcopalians,  and 
one  of  them  the  wife  of  Dr.  Stone,  that  fact,  the  position  of  my 
residence,  and  my  very  great  defect  of  hearing,  rendered  it 
suitable,  as  I  thought,  that  I  should  attend  them  to  the  Episco- 
palian Church;  and  I  have  finally  joined  that  church,  so  i'ar  as 
to  be  admitted  to  the  communion  under  the  patronage  of  Dr. 
Stone.  I  have  not  in  the  least  altered  my  prepossessions  in 
favor  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  modes  of  worship 
and  doctrine;  but  it  did  not  strike  me  as  very  material  to  which 
of  our  churches  I  was  attached,  as  they  are  all  Protestant  and 
sound ;  though  my  predilections  are  still  in  favor  of  the  New 
England  churches,  and  I  have  a  strong  aversion,  in  fact,  to  the 
iorms  and  ceremonies  of  the  Cathedral  worship. 

*  I  have  thought  it,  my  dear  Sir,  due  to  you  and  to  myself  to 
make  this  frank  explanation  ;  our  former  connection  and  my 
very  strong  respect  and  friendship  for  you  have  induced  me  to 
venture  to  do  it ;  and  I  hope  you  will  receive  it  in  the  kindness 
and  indulgence  with  which  it  is  made,  and  not  deem  me  too  m- 
trusive. 

*I  have  been  greatly  afflicted,  for  some  months  past,  with  a 
most  inveterate  disease,  and  that  is  Dyspepsia,  and  nervous  ir- 
ritability ;  though,  through  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  en- 
deavours of  my  physicians,  and  my  own  efforts,  the  disease  is 
vastly  mitigated. 

*  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  with  the  highest  esteem  and  regard,  your 
friend  and  obedient  servant, 

'  Kev'd  Dr.  Samuel  Miller.  James  Kent.' 

*  My  dear  and  venerated  Friend,     Princeton,  Sept.  19,  1847- 

*  Your  kind  letter  of  the  6th  instant  reached  me  five  days 


1847.]  CORRESPONDENCE   AND    DIARY.  491 

after  its  date.  It  found  me  confined  to  the  house  by  sickness, 
wholly  unable  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  my  office  in  the  Sem- 
inary, and  too  feeble  to  take  my  pen  in  hand.  I  am  now,  l)y 
God's  blessing,  considerably  better,  and  with  pleasure  address 
myself  to  the  privilege  of  answering  your  welcome  communi- 
cation. 

*  Your  letter  was  indeed  welcome.  To  be  addressed  by  an 
old  and  highly  valued  friend,  with  whom  ray  ac(iuaintance 
commenced  more  than  forty  years  ago,  and  to  be  a-?sured  that 
I  was  not  forgotten  by  him,  was  truly  gratifying ;  but  to  be 
informed  that  that  friend  had  thought  it  his  duty,  and  had 
found  his  way  clear,  at  the  "  eleventh  hour,"  to  make  a  public 
profession  of  his  faith  and  hope  in  the  glorious  Gos[)el  of  the 
grace  of  God,  was  doubly  gratifying.  True,  indeed,  my  satis- 
faction, on  this  occasion,  would  have  been  more  complete,  if  he 
had  informed  me  that  he  had,  finally,  in  his  old  age,  joined 
himself  to  that  church  which  I  believe  to  be  more  scriptural 
than  any  other  ;  with  which  he  had  been  connected,  as  a  stated 
hearer,  for  nearly  half  a  century ;  and  in  which  it  was  once 
my  privilege  and  pleasure  to  bear  to  him  the  relation  of  pastor. 
Still,  I  cannot  but  rejoice  in  the  step  you  have  taken. 

'  Though  I  have  no  personal  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Stone,  I 
have  always  understood  that  he  was  a  decidedly  evangelical 
man.  From  all  that  I  have  ever  learned,  I  feel  persuaded,  that  he 
preaches  the  Gospel  substantially  and  faithfully.  Of  course, 
assured  that  he  is  engaged  in  leading  souls  to  Christ,  and, 
through  his  atoning  sacrifice  and  life-giving  Spirit,  to  heaven,  I 
can  cordially  resign  you,  if  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so,  to  his 
evangelical  care.  In  my  opinion,  you  judge  correctly,  in  think- 
ing that  you  cannot  go  essentially  wrong,  in  joining  yourself  to 
any  Protestant  denomination,  by  the  ministry  of  which  inquir- 
ing souls  are  directed,  as  the  ground  of  hope,  not  to  rites  and 
ceremonies,  but  to  the  atoning  blood  and  perfect  righteousness 
of  the  Saviour  of  sinners. 

*  My  prayer,  my  dear  Sir,  is,  that  your  christian  profession, 
though  so  long  delayed,  may  be  attended  with  the  richest  con- 
solatTon  and  peace  to  yourself,  and  with  edification  to  all  around 
you.  Allow  an  old  friend,  once  your  pastor,  to  indulge  the  free- 
dom of  saying,  "  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they 
may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."  You  cannot  conceal  from  yourself,  that  G(h1  has  been 
pleased  to  assign  you  a  conspicuous  and  honorable  place  among 
men.  I  need  not  say,  that  while  this  fact  is  to  be  acknowl- 
edged as  a  great  mercy,  it  is  also  to  be  regarded  by  you  as  in- 


492  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

ferring  the  most  solemn  responsibility  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of 
God  your  Saviour,  by  a  correspondiDg  brightness  of  example. 
'I  take  for  granted  that,  in  whatever  degree  your  attention 
may  have  been  heretofore  directed  to  theological  reading,  that 
degree  will  be,  hereafter,  rather  increased   than  diminished. 
Under  this  impression,  permit  me  to  say,  that  there  are  few 
writings  that  I  have  found  more  pleasant  and  edifying  to  my- 
self, than  the  works  of  the  late  John  Xewton,  of  London,  and  of 
Thomas  Scott,  the  commentator.      I  can  also  cordially  recom- 
mend the  two  works  by  John  Flavel,  the  old  Puritan  divine,  of 
England,   viz.,   his    "  Fountain    of   Life    Opened,"   and    his 
"  Method  of  Grace  ;"  both  of  which  have  been  lately  published, 
in  an  improved  form,  by  the  American  Tract  Society.  Dr.  Stone 
knows  them  all  well,  and  will,  I   have  no  doubt,  add  his  testi- 
mony to  their  value.     True,  you  will  not  find  in  these  volumes 
any  thing  new.      They  aim  at  exhibiting  and  recommending 
those  great  elementary  truths  of  the  Gospel  with  which   you 
have  been  familiar  from  your  earliest  years  ;  which  your  vene- 
rated parents   and   grandparents  loved  and  rejoiced   in  ;  and 
which  the  truly  pious  of  all  Protestant  denominations  scarcely 
know  how  enough  to  value  and  circulate.      But  I  shall  never 
forget,  that  the  great  and  good  Dr.  Watts  said,  in  his  last  ill- 
ness, "I  find  that  those  plain,   simple  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
which  I  have  been  accustomed  to  inculcate  on  the  humblest  and 
most  ignorant  of  my  fellow  men,  are  now  the  comfort  and  sup- 
port of  my  own    soul."     May  you  and  I,  my  dear  Friend,   in 
our  closing  scenes,  which  cannot  be  far  distant,  when  all  crea- 
ture comforts  must   and  will  fail,  find  it  thus  I  May  we  then 
find,  to  our  unspeakable  joy,  that  He  who  expired  on  the  cross 
can  and  will,  through  the  consolation  of  the  Eternal  Spirit, 
support  our  pardoned  and  sanctified  spirits  ! 

*  For  myself,  I  have  now  nearly  completed  my  seventy-eighth 
vear.  I  feel  that  my  race  is  almost  run,  and  that  I  shall  soon 
"  put  otf  this  tabernacle."  But  "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed, 
and  am  persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have 
committed  unto  him  against  that  day."  May  this  consolation 
abound  in  you,  beloved  and  honored  Sir,  more  and  more,  and 
in  me  also,  unworthy  as  I  am  !  And  may  we  be  so  happy  as  to 
spend  a  blessed  eternity  together  in  the  presence  and  enjoyment 
of  him  who  "  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us." 
*  So  wishes  and  prays  your 

'  Sincere  friend, 
'  The  Honorable  James  Kent.  Sam'l  Miller.' 

After  Chancellor  Kent's  death,  his  son.  William  Kent, 
Esquire,  since  also  deceased,  requested  to  see  his  father's 


18^7.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  493 

letter    of   the   6  th   of   September,  1847,  which    he   subse- 
quently returned,  with  the  following  communication  : — 

'  My  dear  Sir, 

*  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  my  father's 
letter.  I  have  copied  it.  and  now  return  it  to  you  witli  a  copy 
made  by  one  of  my  clerks. 

'This  letter  of  my  father  is  exceedingly  affecting  to  me. 
You  perceive  in  it,  that  he  supposed  he  was  getting  better. 
AVe  all  knew  that  his  death  wa8  near.  He  wrote  the  letter  in 
one  of  the  delusive  intervals  of  his  cruel  pains,  when  he  was 
almost  too  weak  to  hold  the  pen ;  and  you  may  observe,  that 
there  is  not  in  this  letter  the  usual  accuracy  of  his  writing. 
But  his  mind  was  clear.  It  remained  serene  and  undisturbed 
almost  to  the  moment  of  death.  It  is  one  of  the  sweetest 
recollections  which  his  children  retain  of  him,  that  his  beauti- 
ful intellect  was  never  clouded  nor  weakened  during  his  long 
life.  Xeither  was  his  heart  changed.  It  was  full  of  sensibility 
and  tenderness  till  he  departed. 

*  The  discussions,  to  which  I  alluded  in  my  last  letter,  were 
caused  by  some  ill-judged  attempts  to  claim  my  father  as  having 
become  a  convert  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  I  am  myself  a 
regular  attendant  on  the  services  of  that  Church;  but  it' would 
have  given  me  vastly  more  pain  than  pleasure,  had  mv  father 
become  alien  in  sentiment  to  the  religious  education  of  his 
youth,  and  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  his  middle  life.  This, 
I  knew,  he  never  had  become.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
conversations,  I  ever  had  with  him,  was  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, on  the  eve  of  my  departure  for  Europe  in  May,  1^45. 
His  opinions  then  expressed  were  the  same  as  those  set  ibrth  in 
his  letter  to  you. 

'  Let  me  not  be  unjust  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  ^ly  father 
admired  its  liturgy,  and,  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life, 
his  deafness  having  become  so  great  as  to  render  it  impossible 
to  hear  a  word  from  the  preacher's  lips,  he  derived  great  com- 
fort and  joy  from  the  prayers  of  our  Church. 

'But  he  was  a  thorough  Protestant  in  feeling,  and  alwavs 
continued  attached  to  the  Church  in  which  he  was  educated.' 

'Allow  me  to  add,  that  you  stood  very  high  in  his  regard.  I 
have  heard  him  so  often  speak  of  you,  that  I  seem  no  stranger 
to  you.  There  could  be  no  more  unequivocal  testimonv  of  his 
affection  and  esteem,  than  the  letter  of  September,  written  with 
a  hand  trembling  and  nerves  thrilling  at  the  approach  of 
death. 
j_  *The  re3p2ct  which  my  father  felt  has  descended  to  me  as 


494  FAILING   STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

an  inheritance.  With  thanks  for  your  ready  answer,  and  with 
my  fervent  hope  that  you  may  long  remain  a  shining  and 
living  light  in  the  glorious  Church  of  which  you  are  a  minister, 
I  remain, 

'  Your  friend  and  servant, 
'The  Rev'd  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.  William  Kent' 

During  the  summer  vacation  of  1847,  Dr.  Miller  at- 
tempted two  excursions — the  first  to  the  Catskill  Mountain 
House,  where  he  remained  only  twenty-four  hours,  and  the 
second  to  Long  Branch,  where  he  was  able  to  stay  but  two 
or  three  days.  In  both  cases  threatened  illness  admonished 
him  to  return  home  speedily.  Almost  the  whole  vacation 
long,  and  for  several  weeks  of  the  opening  session,  he  was 
distressingly  feeble.  On  the  21st  of  September,  he  writes 
to  his  son, 

*  My  bodily  complaints  and  consequent  debility  have  con- 
tinued to  distress  me,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  to  confine  me  to 
the  house.  Though  the  Seminary  has  been  in  session  more 
than  three  wrecks,  I  have  been  too  feeble  to  go  near  the  public 
edifice,  or  to  say  a  word  to  the  students.  Indeed,  it  is  three 
weeks  since  I  attended  public  worship.  In  short,  I  have  been 
miserably  out  of  health  for  three  months.  I  am  now,  however, 
by  God's  blessing,  I  think,  convalescent,  have  ridden  and 
walked  out  several  times,  and  I  hope  to  be  able  to  go  to  the 
Seminary,  and  attempt  to  do  something  there,  in  a  week  or  ten 
days.' 

In  the  same  letter,  he  says,  *  The  picture  you  give  of  your 
horse  delights  me.  Oh  that  I  could  find  such  an  one  in  Prince- 
ton !  It  is  more  than  a  year  since  I  mounted  one  of  these 
animals,  and  I  feel  the  want  of  my  favorite  exercise.     But  I 

know  not  that  your  dear  mother  and would  allow  me,  in 

my  old  age,  again  to  mount  a  horse,  after  hearing  of  so  many 
accidents  to  aged  people  from  the  capers  or  falling  of  horses 
supposed  to  be  perfectly  safe.  If  the  Duke  of  Wellington  can- 
not get  a  safe  one,  they  think  there  is  little  chance  for  me.' 

But,  as  the  fall  advanced,  Dr.  Miller's  health  improved, 
and  on  the  13th  of  October  he  writes  to  his  daughter, 

*  We  have  enjoyed  comfortable  health  since  you  left  us.  My 
strength  and  comfort  are  daily  increasing.  I  tell  your  dear 
mother,  that  since  we  have  been  left  alone,  I  have  quite  taken 

to  her.     We  have  gotten  along  surprisingly  well.     B does 

admirably  for  one  so  raw  as  she  is.  She  is  active,  and  very 
obliging  and  good  tempered.' 


1847.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  495 

To  the  end  of  life,  Dr.  Miller  was  ever  ready  to  enter, 
with  interest,  into  the  projects  and  labors  of  his  younr^er 
brethren,  and  to  give  them  any  practicable  aid,  by  his  pen 
or  otherwise,  in  the  prosecution  of  their  plans.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  from  a  letter  which  he  addressed  to  the 
Rev'd  Septimus  Tustin,^  on  the  20th  of  September,  in  an- 
swer to  a  request  for  help  in  preparing  a  popular  lecture 
on  "Spectral  Illusions  " — particularly  for  his  explanation  of 
the  strange  phenomena  described  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Wesley  ; 
and  for  any  additional  illustrations  of  the  subject  wliich 
might  occur  to  his  mind.  Says  Dr.  Tustin,  '  It  is  alike 
creditable  to  his  intelligence  and  his  courtesy.  In  view  of 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written,  as  detailed 
by  himself,  it  indicates  not  only  the  clearness  of  his  head, 
but  also  the  kindness  of  his  heart.' 

After  copying  from  Southey's  Life  of  Wesley  the  whole 
account,  Dr.  Miller  added, 

*You  speak  of  the  explanation  of  these  phenomena.  As  far 
as  I  can  gather  from  Mr.  Southey's  book,  none  was  ever  ob- 
tained. He  does  not  intimate  that  the  source  of  the  singular 
sounds  was  brought  to  light.  I  never  had  any  doui)t,  however, 
that  the  whole  was  occasioned  by  some  mischievous  person  or 
persons,  who  were  determined  to  frighten  and  perplex  the  fami- 
ly, and  who  w^ere  artful  enough  to  keep  their  own  secret. 

*A  case  similar  to  that  in  Mr.  Wesley's  family,  but  la-^s  ex- 
tended in  its  character,  and  of  shorter  continuance,  occurriHl  in 
the  family  of  my  son-in-law,  the  Rev'd  Dr.  John  Breckinridge, 
in  Philadelphia,  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago.  Noises 
unceasing,  various  and  unaccountable,  were  heard  day  after 
day,  and  night  after  night,  in  different  parts  of  the  house.  The 
whole  family  was  astonished,  perplexed  and  agitated ;  and  so 
were  the  neighbors,  after  their  attention  had  been  called  to  the 
affair.  But,  at  length,  by  an  unexpected  and  most  happy 
providence,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  whole  was  occasioned 
by  an  intelligent,  artful  and  mischievous  servant  boy,  who  ex- 
erted all  his  talents  for  the  sake  of  throwing  the  family  into 
perplexity  and  alarm;  and  appeared  to  be  unspeakably  grati- 
fied by  his  success.  For  a  number  of  days  they  had  not  known 
how  to  account  for  what  they  saw  and  heard,  but  by  supposing 
that  there  was  some  supernatural  agency  in  the  case.     *     ** 

From  Washington  College,  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Miller  re- 

»  Since,  D.D. 


496  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

ceived   in   September   the  honorary  degree   of  Doctor  of 
Laws. 

The  foUowing  is  from  his  diary : — 

*  October  24,  1847.  In  the  various  records  which  I  have 
made  on  the  successive  anniversaries  of  my  marriage,  I  have 
spoken  of  my  beloved  wife  in  terms  which  may  appear  to  some 
extravagant;  but  I  am  perfectly  persuaded,  that,  if  her  whole 
character  as  a  wife,  and  as  a  domestic  manager,  were  known, 
just  as  it  is,  no  one  would  consider  me  as  transcending  the 
strictest  and  most  sober  statement  of  facts  in  her  case. 

*I.  In  the  first  place,  she  has  a  strong,  discriminating,  practi- 
cal mind,  admirably  adapted  to  manage  complicated  affairs  ;  to 
regulate  and  guide  domestic  concerns;  to  maintain  authority 
over  servants ;  to  govern  her  household  in  a  quiet,  dignified, 
orderly  manner  ;  and  to  conduct  all  with  an  enlightened  econ- 
omy, adapted  to  make  the  most  and  best  of  the  means  commit- 
ted to  her  disposal. 

'  II.  Her  piety  is  as  solid,  profound,  fervent,  intelligent  and 
scriptural  as  I  have  ever  known.  It  is  evidently  the  governing 
principle  in  all  her  ways.  She  is  really  better  qualified  than 
many  ministers  to  instruct  the  inquiring,  and  to  counsel  the  per- 
plexed and  anxious.  Hundreds  of  times  have  I  profited  by 
her  remarks  on  my  sermons,  and  other  public  performances, 
more  than  by  the  remarks  of  any  other  human  being.  And 
when,  to  the  eminent  judiciousness  of  her  observations,  I  add 
their  fearless  candor  and  honesty,  no  one  will  wonder  at  my 
prizing  them  highly. 

'III.  Her  knowledge  of  the  world  is  peculiar,  and  greatly 
exceeds  mine.  She  was  in  gay  life  when  I  married  her,  and 
had  much  better  opportunities  than  her  husband  of  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  the  ways  of  the  world,  and  the  feelings  and  habits 
of  society.  Her  superior  knowledge  and  skill,  in  this  respect, 
have  availed  me  much  on  many  interesting  occasions,  and  have 
been  the  means  of  guiding  me  to  decisions  and  courses  of  con- 
duct more  wise  and  respectable,  than  I  should,  without  her, 
have  ever  reached. 

'IV.  She  has  a  degree  of  energy,  and  physical  and  moral 
courage,  which  on  many  important  occasions  have  been  an  es- 
sential aid  to  me  in  the  management  of  my  affairs.  I  look  back 
on  some  of  those  occasions  with  mingled  feelings  of  wonder,  de- 
light and  thankfulness.  In  a  variety  of  domestic  and  other 
concerns,  she  has  been  enabled  to  meet  and  overcome  difficul- 
ties, and  to  accomplish  that,  which  I  never  could  have  over- 
come, or  accomplished. 

*  V.  Her  whole  influence  has  been  cast  into  the  scale  of  plai 


1847.]  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  407 

and  simple  living,  ever  since  a  short  time  after  wc,were  mar- 
ried. Not  lonij  after  our  union,  before  she  became  pious,  she 
proposed  to  purchase  some  expensive  and  showy  articles  of  fur- 
niture. This  proposal  was  then  resisted,  and  she  readily  ac- 
quiesced. But  after  she  became  decidedly  pious,  her  whole 
taste  and  judgment  seemed  to  undergo  an  entire  revolution,  in 
regard  to  this  as  well  as  other  matters.  From  that  hour,  plain- 
ness, simplicity  and  enlightened  economy  seemed  to  be  her 
governing  principle  in  every  thing.  Costly  and  ostentatious 
living  seemed  to  be  her  aversion.  All  her  counsels  and  all 
her  efforts  seemed  to  be  supremely  directed  to  the  maintenance 
of  that  moderation,  in  every  personal  and  domestic  indulgence, 
which  the  spirit  of  the  religion  of  Christ  evidently  inculcates, 
and  which  left  her  at  liberty  to  consecrate  a  larger  portion  of 
her  means  to  the  Kedeemer's  kingdom. 

'  In  short,  every  year  since  our  marriage,  she  has  appeared 
to  me  to  be  growing  in  grace  as  a  Christian ;  in  prudence  in 
the  management  of  our  domestic  affairs ;  and  in  enlightened 
economy,  and,  at  the  same  time,  increasing  liberality  to  the 
poor;  ever  devising  liberal  things  for  the  indigent  and  dis- 
tressed; denying  herself;  assisting  her  husband  by  her  counsels 
and  her  prayers ;  contributing  every  hour  to  his  comfort  and 
his  reputation,  without  laying  the  least  claim  to  credit  for  it ; 
and  doing  more  for  the  welfare  and  true  honor  of  the  family, 
than  any  other  individual  on  earth.     *     * 

'October  31,  1847.  *  *  J  am  this  day  seventy-eight  years 
old.  *  *  For  the  last  five  months  my  health  has  been  frail 
and  distressingly  impaired ;  insomuch  that  all  my  excursions 
to  different  places,  for  the  restoration  of  strength,  seemed  to  be 
altogether  vain,  and  even  injurious.  The  session  in  the  Semi- 
nary commenced  on  the  28th  of  August;  but  for  the  first  five 
weeks  of  its  continuance,  I  was  in  a  great  measure  confined  to 
the  house,  and  wholly  unable  to  take  any  part  in  public  instruc- 
tion. Through  the  goodness  of  God,  I  am  now  much  better; 
but  still  so  weak  and  so  unfit  for  ofiicial  duty,  that  I  have  come 
to  the  resolution  to  resign  my  office,  and  to  send  in  a  communi- 
cation to  that  amount,  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  at  a  special 
meeting  of  that  body  appointed  to  take  place  on  Wednesday  of 
next  week. 

'This  was  the  first  time  that  I  had  ever  been  absent,  at  the 
opening  of  a  session,  since  my  connection  with  the  Seminary. 
This  fact  alone  surely  calls  for  devout  and  humble  thanksgiv- 
ings, in  which  it  is  one  object  of  this  day  humbly  and  grateful- 
ly to  engaije.  *  *  As  my  whole  family,  on  both  father's  and 
mother's  side,  have  manifested  a  tendency  to  pulmonary  weak- 


498  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CH.  41. 

ness  and  disease,  I  was  apprehensive,  from  an  early  period  of 
my  life,  that  my  course  would  be  terminated  by  that  disease, 
and  would  be  short;  especially  as  my  lungs  appeared,  from  the 
commencement  of  my  ministry,  to  be  the  weakest  in  the  family. 
It  appears,  however,  that  abundant  public  speaking,  not  only 
did  not,  in  the  end,  morbidly  affect  my  chest,  but  rather  helped 
and  strengthened  it.  While  resident  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
I  was  much  incommoded  and  afflicted  with  hoarseness  and  pul- 
monary debility.  But,  on  coming  to  Princeton,  where  I  was 
removed  further  from  the  sea  air,  but  had  twice  or  three  times 
as  much  public  use  to  make  of  my  lungs,  I  became  stronger, 
spoke  with  more  ease,  and  observed  a  growing  power  of  lungs ; 
so  that  at  my  present  advanced  period  of  life,  I  can  make  my- 
self heard,  in  the  largest  house,  with  far  more  ease  than  thirty 
years  ago.     ^     * 

'  May  not  those  who  inherit  weakness  of  the  chest,  and  who 
apprehend  danger  from  pulmonary  disease,  be  benefited  by 
my  example  ?  I  apprehend  that  nothing  is  more  adapted  to 
strengthen  the  lungs,  than  well  conducted  and  cautiously 
guarded,  but  habitual  and  abundant  use  of  them.  Let  them  be 
exercised  everyday,  in  singing,  reading  aloud,  declaiming;  and 
like  a  limb  constantly  used,  they  will  daily  become  stronger.' 

Dr.  Miller  now  addressed  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Seminary  in  a  more  decisive  tone  than  before.  After  a 
few  preliminary  words,  he  said, 

*  Having  now  entered  on  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  my  age 
and  being  conscious  of  labouring  under  many  of  the  infirmities 
which  usually  attend  on  that  advanced  period  of  life,  I  have 
deliberately  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  best  interests  of 
the  Seminary,  as  well  as  my  own  health  and  comfort,  render  it 
expedient  that  I  should,  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  allow, 
withdraw  from  the  labors  incumbent  on  me  as  an  occupant  of 
this  office. 

*  I  therefore  beg  leave  most  respectfully  to  announce  to  the 
Board  my  resignation  of  the  office  which  I  hold  in  this  institu- 
tion. This  resignation  I  wish  to  be  considered  as  taking  effect 
at  the  close  of  the  present  session,  until  which  time  it  is  my  de- 
sire and  purpose  to  attempt  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties, 
as  far  as  health  and  strength  may  be  given  me. 

'  In  making  this  communication,  I  should  do  great  injustice 
to  my  feelings,  were  I  not  respectfully  and  gratefully  to  ac- 
knowledge the  uniform  kindness  with  which  I  have  been  treated 
by  the  members  of  the  Board,  and  by  all  with  whom  my  office 
has   brought  me  into  connection.     The  degree  in  which  the 


1847. J  CORRESPONDENCE    AND    DIARY.  499 

manifestations  of  this  kindness  have  encouraged  and  sustained 
me  in  my  arduous  labors  it  will  not  be  easy  for  me  to  express 
or  estimate. 

I  also  feel  constrained  by  a  sense  of  duty,  to  record  my 
hearty  thanks  to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  uniform 
and  cordial  harmony  which  has  constantly  sub;<isted  between 
my  revered  colleagues  and  myself,  in  laboring  together  for  the 
benefit  of  our  beloved  pupils.  While  each,  a.s  was  proper, 
thought  and  acted  for  himself,  I  am  not  conscious  that  our  har- 
mony has  ever  been  painfully  interrupted,  in  any  one  instance, 
for  a  single  hour.  The  influence  of  this  precious  fact,  in  pro- 
moting our  personal  comfort,  as  fellow-laborers,  as  well  as  in 
ministering  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Seminary,  is  so  obvious 
and  important,  that  it  cannot  fail  to  be  appreciated,  and  to  ex- 
cite the  gratitude  of  every  real  friend  of  the  institution.  I 
could  not  reconcile  it  with  my  feelings  to  say  less  of  my  col- 
leagues, my  relation  to  whom  will,  in  a  few  short  weeks,  be 
forever  dissolved,  and  with  whom  I  desire  to  bless  God  that  I 
was  ever  connected. 

*  While  I  thus  announce  my  contemplated  withdrawal  from 
the  responsibilities  and  the  duties  of  an  office  which  I  have 
so  long  held,  I  shall  never  cease,  while  I  live,  to  cherish  the 
most  earnest  desires,  and  to  ofler  fervent  prayers,  for  the  pros- 
perity of  an  institution,  which  I  persuade  myself  has  been 
already  extensively  useful,  and  which  I  trust  is  destined  to 
be  a  blessing  to  the  Church  of  God  for  ages  to  come.  May  it 
continue  to  be  a  pure  and  abundant  fountain  of  instruction  in 
sound  Biblical  knowledge,  in  experimental,  ardent  piety,  in 
pastoral  diligence  and  fidelity,  and  in  missionary  zeal,  until 
time  shall  be  no  longer !  And  may  every  member  of  the  Board 
long  enjoy  that  most  precious  of  all  consolations  that  can  be 
experienced  in  this  world — the  consolation  of  seeing  the  work 
of  the  Lord  prospering  more  and  more  in  their  hands! 

'  I  am,  reverend  and  respected  Brethren,  with  great  regard, 
your  brother  and  fellow-laborer  in  christian  bonds, 

'Princeton,  N.  J.        )  *  Sam'l  Miller. 

November  3,  1847.'  J 

To  his  son  he  wrote  on  the  4th, 

'  I  yesterday  presented  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Sem- 
inary, at  a  special  meeting  in  this  place,  the  resignation  of  my 
office  as  professor.  To  my  very  gratifying  surprise,  they  re- 
fused to  accept  of  it,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  wait  on  me 
and  request  me  to  withdraw  it ;  assuring  me,  that  whatever 
might  be  my  infirmities,  and  ray  inability  to  discharge  the  du- 


5?0  FAILING    STRENGTH.  [CII.  41. 

ties  of  my  office,  they  wished  me  still  to  hold  it — and  all  this 
in  the  most  unanimous  and  affectionate  manner.' 

Dr.  Miller  accordingly  withdrew,  for  the  time,  his  resig- 
nation. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  L.  Janeway,^  a  highly  esteemed  grad- 
uate of  the  Seminary,  son  of  the  venerable  Dr.  J.  J.  Jane- 
way,  w^rote  promptly  and  most  kindly  to  his  aged  theolo- 
gical preceptor,  expressing  great  pleasure  at  the  withdraw- 
ment  of  his  resignation,  and  a  fond  recollection  of  the  priv- 
ileges he  had  enjoyed  in  Princeton.  In  his  reply.  Dr.  Mil- 
ler said,  on  the  15th  of  November, 

*  Your  truly  filial  and  affectionate  letter  of  the  6th  inst  *  * 
found  me  quite  unwell.     ^     * 

'  These  interruptions  of  health  and  strength,  by  the  freqaent 
recurrences  of  nervous  debility,  were  among  the  considerations 
which  admonished  me  to  w^ithdraw  from  the  office  which  I  now 
occupy.  I  feel  grateful  to  the  Board  of  Directors  for  the  kindly 
manner  in  which  they  disposed  of  my  resignation.  I  commit 
myself  to  them  in  the  Lord, — willing  to  labor  on  while  I  have 
strength,  and  to  "  die  in  harness."  God  grant  that  as  my  day 
is  so  my  strength  may  be !  I  have  no  desire  to  pass  a  day  of 
idleness  or  self-indulgence  ;  but  I  cannot  bear  the  thought,  that 
the  interests  of  the  Seminary  should  suffer  on  account  of  my 
infirmities.  But  the  Lord,  I  trust,  will  provide,  and  order  ev- 
erything in  mercy  to  his  precious  cause. 

'  I  thank  you,  my  dear  Brother,  for  the  sentiments  of  kind- 
ness and  respect  with  which  your  letter  abounds.  Be  assured 
that  everything  of  this  kind  is  cordially  reciprocated.  May 
the  Lord  graciously  preside  over  every  departrL\ent  and  step  of 
your  ministry,  and  make  you  and  yours  more  and  more  a  bless- 
ing to  the  Church  and  the  world.' 

1  Now,  D.D. 


CHAPTER    F  0  R  T  Y-  S  E  C  0  N  D. 

LABOUR     AND     S  0  II  R  0  W. 

1848,  1849. 


1.     Ix  Weakness,  yet  Toiling. 

Even  yet  Dr.  Miller  enjoyed,  at  intervals,  seasons-of 
comfortable  health;  but  these  seasons  were  becoming  evi- 
dently shorter,  and  were  more  and  more  frequently  inter- 
rupted b}^  turns  of  lingering  indisposition,  confining  him  to 
the  house,  and,  with  every  renewed  attack,  evidently  and  per- 
manently diminishing  the  force  of  the  vital  energies.  He 
says  in  his  diary, 

'January  1,  1848.  ^  *  Since  last  spring  my  health  has 
been  extremely  feeble.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  sum- 
mer, I  was  so  unwell  as  to  fear  the  entire  and  final  loss  of 
health.  ]My  efforts  in  travelling,  and  other  means  for  regaining 
it,  seemed  to  be  in  vain.  But,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  as  the 
cool  weather  came  on,  I  became  better;  and  when  severe  frost 
occurred,  it  was  mercifully  made  effectual  for  my  restoration, 
in  a  great  measure,  to  my  usual  health ;  so  that  the  opening 
year,  by  the  favor  of  a  kind  Providence,  finds  me  in  the  pos- 
session of  health  nearly  as  good  and  comfortable  as  I  have  en- 
joyed for  several  years  past.  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul :  and 
all  that  is  within  me  bless  his  holy  name."  ' 

This  year  through,  he  was  able  to  discharge  most  of  his 
official  duties  in  the  Seminary,  though-  not  unfre<|uently 
complaining  of  the  languor  and  gradual  decay  of  old  age, 
aud  excusing  himself,  therefore,  from  various  extra  under- 
takings. His  labours  at  the  desk,  however,  were  still  con- 
tinued: he  was  indefatigable  in  Avriting,  whenever  he  en- 
joyed any  tolerable  degree  of  bodily  comfort. 

The   Synod  of  Albany  having  condemned   promiscuous 

501 


502  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  1. 

dancing,  one  Clermts,  as  he  signed  himself,  addressed  to 
that  body  a  letter,  in  a  printed  pamphlet,  severely  censuring 
their  action,  as  going  beyond  the  Word  of  God.  Subse- 
quently, the  same  writer  continued  his  defence  of  dancing 
in  the  Presbyterian.  In  the  latter,  briefly,  in  the  month 
of  February,  1848,  Dr.  Miller  expressed  his  deep  regret, 
that  a  Presbyterian  clergyman  should  defend,  what  the 
early  Christian  fathers,  the  Waldenses  and  other  "wit- 
nesses "  for  the  truth,  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the  West- 
minster divines,  and  consistent,  devoted  Presbyterians, 
always  and  everywhere,  had  condemned. 

To  the  Rev.  Ansley  D.  White,  settled  at  Trenton,  Dr. 
Miller  wrote  on  the  4th  of  September,  1848, 

'After  the  observation  and  experience  of  a  long  life,  I  have 
come  decisively  to  the  conclusion,  that,  if  I  had  my  life  to  live 
over  again,  I  would  pay  ten  times  as  much  attention  to  the 
children  of  my  charge,  as  I  ever  did  when  I  had  a  pastoral 
charge.  If  I  were  now  about  to  undertake  the  care  of  a  new 
or  feeble  church,  I  should  consider  special  attention  to  the 
children  and  young  people  of  the  neighborhood  as  one  of  the 
most  certain  and  effectual  methods  of  collecting  and  strength- 
ening a  large  flock  that,  humanly  speaking,  could  possibly 
be  employed.' 

In  September,  he  wrote  a  long  letter  of  reminiscences  of 
Dr.  Green,  for  his  biographer,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  H. 
Jones.^  '*In  a  private  note,"  writes  Dr.  Jones,  "which 
accompanied  the  contribution,  he  speaks  of  its  "failing 
to  come  up  to  what  he  had  hoped  to  make  it;"  but  with 
characteristic  humility  he  adds,  that  "such  as  it  is,  you 
must  receive  it  as  the  aff'ectionate  tribute  of  an  aged  man 
who,  amidst  all  his  infirmities  and  official  cares  and  bur- 
dens, has  done  what  he  could."  "^ 

This  letter  was  a  most  hearty  and  generous  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  a  life-long  friend.  For  extracts  of  any 
length,  there  is  no  room  here;  but  the  account  given  of  Dr. 
Green's  participation  in  the  establishment  of  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Princeton,  it  may  be  well  to  reproduce,  as 
a  specimen  of  the  whole. 

"  In  planning  and  establishing  the  Theological  Seminary  in 
this  place,  he  took,  as  on  every  other  great  occasion,  a  leading 
part.     He  labored  indefatigably  to  pave  the  way  for  its  estab- 

1  Life  of  Dr.  Green,  523-540.        *  Id.  523. 


1848.]  THE   LAST   OF   AUTHORSHIP.  503 

lishment.  He  was  the  penman  of  its  constitution.  When  it 
was  organized,  he  was  made  the  first  President  of  its  lioard  of 
Directors.  He  made  a  liberal  donation  of  land  by  purchase, 
in  addition  to  that  made  by  the  Hon.  Richard  Stockton,  for 
the  location  of  its  public  buildings.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
liberal  contributors  to  the  formation  of  its  library,  and  might 
be  said  more  than  any  other  individual,  to  have  been  the 
father  of  the  institution;  for  which  he  delighted  to  contrive, 
to  labour  and  to  pray,  as  long  as  he  lived. "^ 

In  his  diary  and  correspondence,  Dr.  Miller  often, 
towards  the  close  of  life,  adverted  to  the  harmony  wliich  liad 
prevailed  throughout  the  intercourse  of  the  Seminary  pro- 
fessors. On  the  3d  of  December,  1848,  the  anniversary  of 
his  removal  to  Princeton,  he  writes  on  this  subjectj 

*  When  I  came  to  Princeton,  it  was  under  a  deep  impression  of 
the  importance  of  harmony  among  those  who  were  united  in 
office  in  the  same  institution,  and  with  a  fixed  and  recorded 
resolution  to  have  no  quarrel  or  disagreement  with  any  col- 
league whom  the  Lord  might  appoint  me,  if  it  should  be  possi- 
ble to  avoid  it  without  a  dereliction  of  truth  or  duty,  l^ut  it 
has  pleased  a  gracious  God  so  to  order  my  lot,  that  1  have 
never  been  brought  to  this  dilemma.  All  my  colleagues  have 
been  men  with  whom  it  was.  easy,  nay  delightful,  to  work.  I 
have  never  known  any  one  of  them,  on  any  occasion,  to  mani- 
fest a  disposition  to  raise  a  rival,  a  personal,  or  a  selfish  standard 
in  our  little  camp;  but  on  the  contrary,  a  unitbrra  desire  to 
promote,  by  all  the  means  in  their  })o\ver,  the  be.<t  interests  of 
the  Seminary,  as  a  nursery  of  ardent  piety,  and  of  sound  bibli- 
cal and  theological  knowledge.  I  have  no  recollection  of  any 
one  instance,  in  which  any  of  them  seemed  for  a  moment  to 
postpone  these  great  interests  to  his  own  private  or  selfish  aims. 
With  such  men  it  was,  surely,  not  difficult  for  a  right-minded 
man  to  co-operate  in  any  and  every  duty.  With  such  men 
who  could  quarrel,  that  was  not  himself  unreasonable  and 
criminal  ?' 

2.     The  Last  of  Authorship. 

Dr.  Miller's  last  publication  seems  to  have  been  com- 
pleted for  the  press  more  than  a  year  before  he  died :  at 
least  the  Dedication  *' to  the  younger  ministers,  and  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United    States,"   is    dated,    ''October    :3lst,    1848  "—his 

1  p.  529. 


504  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  2. 

seventy-ninth  birth  day.     It  was  entitled,   "  Thoughts  on 
Public  Prayer,"^  and  was  issued  by  the  Board  of  Publica- 
tion, to  which  he  made  it  a  free  gift.     The   subject  had 
always  been  presented  to  the  successive  classes  under  his 
instruction  in  the  Seminary,  and  such  a  work  he  had  had  in 
contemplation   for   several,  perhaps   many,  years.     It  was 
therefore  by  no  means  altogether  the  product  of  the  months 
of  decline  during  which  it  was  prepared  for  the  press ;  and 
if,  in  comparison  with  previous  works,  it  exhibits  any  dimi- 
nution of  vigour,  it  is  in  the  style  rather  than  in  the  matter. 
Mr.  (afterwards  Bishop)  Hobart,  in  his  Apology,  noticing 
the  plea  that  other  denominations  offered  "greater  edifica- 
tion "   and    "purer  administrations"   than  the  Episcopal, 
remarks,  "  The  admission  of  this  plea  would  exalt  preaching 
above  public  worship,  and  those  other  ordinances  which  are 
the  "signs  and  seals  of  the  covenant  of  grace."     Such  an 
admission,  therefore,  would  be  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church ;    for  she  justly  and  wisely  de- 
clares, "  OwQ  jyrimai'y  design  of  public  ordinances  is  to  pay 
social  acts  of  homage  to  the  Most  High  God."      "Sermons 
ouo;ht  not  to  be  so  lonor   as  to  interfere  with  the  more  im- 
2)ortant  duties  <di lyrayer  and  'praise.^'  "^     It  is  obvious  that 
the  latter  clause  alone  affords  the  least  countenance  to  such 
a  view  of  Presbyterian  principles  ;  and  this,  only  according 
to  an  interpretation  which  certainly   cannot  be  correct,  al- 
though not  inconsistent  with  the  construction  of  the  sen- 
tence.    No  doubt  the   meaning  of  the  Directory  is,  that 
some  of  the   "duties  of  prayer  and  praise"    are  more  im- 
portant than   others ;  and  not  that  all   of  them  are  more 
important  than  preaching.     We  have   already  noticed  Dr. 
Miller's   connexion    with   the   revisal  of  this  part  of  our 
standards  ;  and  the  w^ork  now  before  us  proves  conclusively, 
that  his  understanding  of  the  passage  referred  to  was  not 
Mr.  Hobart's.      A  short  quotation  will  demonstrate  this. 

"  The  Romanists,  overrating  the  importance  of  external  rites 
and  ceremonies,  and  laying  undue  stress  on  their  Missals  and  Bre- 
viaries, have  confidently  taught  that  their  liturgical  performances 
were  far  more  important  than  public  preaching ;  and,  of  course, 

^  "Thoughts  on  Public  Prayer.  By  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Philadelphia:  1849." 
— 12mo.  Pp.  306. 

2  Apology,  (Ed.  1843,)  102,  103.     Directory  for  Worship  VI,  4. 


1848.]         THE  LAST  OF  AUTHORSHIP.  505 

that  the  Latter  might  he  much  more  safely  dispensed  with  tlian 
the  former.  '^  *  With  a  view  to  justify  this  estimate,  it  has 
been  said,  by  those  who  take  this  i^rround,  that  in  J'nu/er  we 
speak  directly  to  God,  and  implore  his  blessini,' ;  whereas,  in 
Preaching,  we  listen  to  the  speculations  of  men  exhibiting'  to  us 
their  own  opinions  of  truth  and  duty.  They  judge,  tlierefore, 
that  if  it  be  necessary  or  convenient  to  discontinue  either,  it 
is  much  the  less  evil  to  discontinue  preaching.  And  in  tliis 
judgment  some  who  call  themselves  l^rotestants,  but  who  too 
much  resemble  Romanists,  seem  dis])osed  to  concur.  They 
deem  and  pronounce  the  service  of  the  "Reading  Desk"  of  far 
more  value,  as  a  means  of  grace,  than  the  discourses  which 
proceed  from  the  pulpit. 

"This  is,  doubtless,  a  deeply  erroneous  judgment.  Nothing 
can  be  more  evident  than  that,  in  the  Xew  Testament  history, 
public  preaching  makes  a  much  more  prominent  and  important 
figure,  as  an  instrument  for  converting  the  world  and  edifying 
the  Church,  than  public  prayer;  for  it  has  pleased  God,  in  all 
ages,  eminently  "  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them 
that  believe."  Xay,  more  than  this,  the  very  statement  of  our 
opponents  in  this  argument  may  be  turned  against  themselves ; 
for  if,  in  prayer,  we  always  speak  to  God,  in  the  way  of  his  own 
appointment;  in  preaching,  God  speaks  to  us  hy  \u^  commis- 
sioned servant,  if  that  servant  preaches  the  preaching  which 
the  Master  bids  him.  And  which  is  the  more  serious  and 
solemn  employment — our  speaking  to  God,  and  imploring  his 
favour,  or  God's  speaking  to  us,  and  communicating  his  will, 
either  in  the  language  of  instruction,  of  threatening,  or  of 
j)romise?"^ 

Dr.  Miller  frequently  recommended  devotional  com- 
position to  others,  and  he  continued  it  himself  to  the  end  of 
life.  Among  his  Princeton  manuscripts  arc  found  many 
specimens  of  precomposed  prayers.  Tlie  occasion  on  which 
each  was  used  is  generally  noted.  Here  is  one  headed 
*  Funeral  of  R.  Stockton,  Esquire,  March  IHh,  18l^8'; 
another,  'Commencement,  September  2!>th,  18-JO.'  lie 
evidently  sometimes  made  such  preparation  with  only  the 
expectation  of  possibly  being  called  upon.  Here  is  a 
prayer  marked,  'not  used';  here  another,  heaile<l,  'Dr. 
Carnahan's  Baccalaureate  Sermon,  September  -1st,  \b'2'S. 
Did  not  make  the  prayer.  Mr.  WoodiiuU  was  afterwards 
applied  to,  and  officiated.'     This  habit  of  laborious  precom- 

»  Pp.  12,  13,  14. 
Vol  11—38 


506  LABOUR    AND    SORRO\Y.  [CH.  42.  2. 

position  not  only  rendered  Dr.  Miller's  specially  prepared 
prayers  more  appropriate  and  impressive,  but  also  manifested 
clearly  its  benefits  in  his  extemporaneous  efforts. 

One  of  his  grandchildren,  Margaret  E.  Breckinridge, 
since  deceased,  in  throwing  together  a  few  reminiscences 
for  this  work,  wrote, 

'  I  remember  being  much  impressed  by  what  occurred  in  the 
Seminary  chapel,  one  of  the  last  times,  I  think,  that  he  preached 
there.  He  was  then  very  infirm,  and,  when  he  rose  to  ofier 
the  second  prayer,  seemed  unusually  feeble.  Many  events  of 
importance  were  taking  place  at  that  time,  in  both  the  church 
and  the  world,  and  in  regard  to  each  he  made  special  prayer. 
The  most  affecting  part  was  that  in  which  he  mentioned  the 
Pope,  who  was  then  in  Gaeta,  and  in  much  danger.  His  sup- 
plication for  him  was  so  tender,  so  compassionate,  and  yet  so 
earnest  and  faithful  in  its  recognition  of  him  as  "  the  Man  of 
Sin,"  as  he  called  him,  that  all  present  were  moved.  I  never 
have  heard  from  any  one  else  so  striking  a  prayer.' 

Chief  Justice  Andrew  Kirkpatrick  and  his  excellent  lady 
were,  for  many  years,  Dr.  Miller's  kind  entertainers  in  New 
Brunswick,  whenever  his  duties  called  him  thither;   and  he 
appreciated  most  feelingly  their  friendship,  and  their  unaf- 
fected and  delightful  hospitality.     A  member  of  the  family 
has  kindly  assured  the  writer,  that  Dr.  Miller's  occasional 
visits  were  always  looked  for  w^ith  great  pleasure,  and  by 
none  more  than  by  the  children.     Certain  it  is,  that  few  of 
his  intimate  friends   held  as   exalted  a  place   in  his  esteem 
and    affection,    as  the  Chief  Justice    and   his    interesting 
family.     On  both  sides,  these  feelings  seem  to  have  ripened 
and  gathered  strength  with  the  continuance   of  social  and 
oflScial  intercourse.     The  Chief  Justice  and  his  household 
long  remembered  a  prayer  which  Dr.  Miller  offered  at  their 
family   worship,  during  a  session     of  presbytery,  when  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  had  been  arraigned  before  his  brethren 
for  very  serious  delinquencies.     The  appropriateness  and 
fervor  of  the  prayer  made  it  a  subject  of  remark  at  the 
time;  and  even  the  words,  'unutterably  vile,'  by  which  the 
offence  charged  was  characterized,  have  lingered  ever  since 
with  their  earnest,  impressive  tone,  in  the  recollection  of  at 
least  the  respected  reminiscent  mentioned. 

None  were  more  opposed   to   empty  form,  none  more 
observant  of  outward,  as  well  as  inward  reverence,  than 


1848.]  THE    LAST    OF    AUTHORSHIP.  507 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Miller.  They  both  earnestly  reprobated  the 
growing  habit  of  self-indulgence  in  God's  house,  which  has 
so  generally  resulted,  throughout  the  Presbyterian  churfh, 
in  the  adoption  of  a  sitting  instead  of  a  standing  posture  in 
prayer.  Even  in  extreme  old  age,  they  put  to  shame  by 
unweariedly  standing,  many  a  strong  young  person,  who 
w^ould  not  bear  the  fatigue  of  such  reverence. 

With  his  work  on  Public  Prayer,  Dr.  Miller's  career  of 
authorship,  extending  through  about  fifty-five  years,  termi- 
nated."^ Here  may  be  added  a  few  testimonies,  omitted 
elsewhere,  to  his  character  as  a  Avriter ;  closely  connected 
with  which  arc  allusions  to  other  points,  which  there  is  no 
reason,  however,  for  omitting. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  give  an  adequate  estimate  of  the  amount 
of  service  rendered  to  the  church  and  country  during  his  long 
and  useful  public  life,  through  the  pulpit,  the  press,  and  the  profes- 
sor's chair.  By  his  writings,  and  by  his  instructions,  he  became, 
pjerhaps  more  than  any  other  man,  the  recognized  authority  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  all  matters  relating  to  her  polity  and 
order.  His  views  and  opinions,  on  these  and  kindred  topics, 
have  had  an  influence  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  wiiiely 
extended  as  it  has  been  conservative  and  beneficial.  He  ij 
probably  our  most  voluminous  author;  while  all  his  writings 
have  been  eminently  judicious  and  practical.  ^"  *  They  are 
among  the  standard  classics  of  Presbyterianism.     *     "^ 

"  Whether  regarded  as  a  preacher  or  a  teacher,  he  was  a 
great  and  good  man — preeminently  great  in  his  goodness. 
And  in  his  day  he  did  a  great  work  for  God  and  the  Church. 
It  was  fortunate  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  that  God  gave 
her  two  such  men  as  Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller,  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  her  first  Theological  Seminary,  and  to  be  the 
patterns  of  all  subsequent  theological  instructors.  Each  was 
distinct  in  his  peculiar  sphere  and  order.  80  distinct,  so 
peculiar,  so  eminently  fitted  was  each  to  his  work,  that  the 
hundreds  of  students  taught  by  them  were  constrained  to  feel 

1  Besides  the  works  already  particularly  mentioned.  Dr.  Miller  hnd  piilili.xhed 
many  fugitive  pieces,  a  large  number  of  which,  d  tubtloss.  have  not  conic  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  biographer,  though  jioinc,  of  which  he  know,  have  not 
been  mentioned.  Here,  a  simple  list  of  a  few  of  the  latter  may  be  givi-n  : — "An 
Introductory  Essay"  to  "  The  Articles  of  the  Synod  of  I>ort,"  i.«sue<l  by  The 
Board  of  Publication  :— An  Introduction  to  Harvey's  History  of  Popery:— 
An  Introduction  to  Agnew  on  the  Sabbath:— A  Recommendatory  L«-Mcr  to 
the  Publishers  of  Jean  Paul  Pcrrin's  History  of  the  Waldjnsi-s  :— Tract  Km  of 
The  Board  of  Publication  :—"  Church  Attachment  and  Scctariani.-m  "  :— Two 
Tracts  of  the  American  Tract  Society  :— 130— '' Theatrical  Exhil.ifiui.s  :*'  3G1 
— "Atoning  Blood." 


508  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  2> 

that  there  was  but  one  Archibald  Alexander,  and  but  one 
Samuel  Miller  in  the  world."^ 

"  To  say  that  in  *  ^  his  works  Dr.  Miller  has  shown 
himself  an  accomplished  champion  of  the  system  of  faith  and 
order  imbodied  in  our  Standards,  would  be  only  to  give  utter- 
ance to  the  verdict  which  has  long  since  been  passed  upon  his 
writings,  by  the  general  voice  of  all  who  receive  the  Westmin- 
ster Confession  and  the  Presbyterian  Form  of  Government. 
His  works  are  a  repository  to  which,  next  to  the  Bible,  the  in- 
telligent youth  in  our  Bible-classes,  our  heads  of  families,  our 
Buling  Elders,  our  candidates  for  the  ministry,  and  very  many 
of  our  ministers,  naturally  repair  when  they  would  inform 
themselves  as  to  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  our  system,  and 
the  authority  on  which  it  reposes.  The  library  of  no  Presby- 
terian family  can  be  regarded  as  complete  without  them.  His 
tract,  entitled  ''  Presbyterianism  the  truly  Primitive  and  Apos- 
tolical Constitution  of  the  Church  of  Christ,"  should  be  read 
and  re-read  by  every  individual  who  worships  with  a  Presby- 
terian congregation ;  and  parents  should  see  that  it  is  placed 
betimes  in  the  hands  of  their  children.  There  is  nothing;  ex- 
tant  which  exhibits,  in  a  concise  form,  so  accurate  and  satis- 
factory a  view  of  Presbyterianism  in  its  history,  doctrines, 
government,  and  worship.  Nor  is  there  any  publication  of  the 
same  compass,  so  w^ell  adapted  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  per- 
sons of  other  communions,  who  would  know  what  our  system 
is ;  or  to  rebuke  and  correct  the  calumnies  of  those  who  mis- 
represent it."^ 

"  Dr.  Miller  accomplished  much  by  his  labours  as  an  author. 
His  publications  are  numerous,  and  relate  to  a  great  variety  of 
subjects,  showing  that  he  was  a  vigorous  student,  and  that  his 
mind  took  a  wide  range.  His  first  work  of  any  considerable 
extent,  was  a  "  Betrosj)ect  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  written  in 
quite  the  early  part  of  his  ministry :  it  acquired  for  him  great 
reputation  not  only  on  this  side  of  the  water  but  in  Great  Brit- 
ain ;  and  it  is  not  invidious  to  say,  even  at  this  day,  that  it  is  on 
some  accounts,  among  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  His- 
tory of  which  our  country  can  boast.  Several  of  his  works  were 
controversial;  at  least  were  designed  to  defend  what  he  re- 
garded as  important  truth :  they  are  all  perspicuous,  logical 
and  well  considered,  and  have  a  high  rank  among  the  ablest 
works  on  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat.  Two  or  three  of  his 
larger  productions  are  biographical,  commemorating  faithfully 

1  Dr.  Halsey  in  N.  W.  Presbyterian,  22d  Ajagust,  1868. 

2  Dr.  Boardman's  Tribute,  31,  32. 


1848.]  THE    LAST    OF   AUTHORSHIP.  509 

and  beautifully  some  of  the  illustrious  dead  to  ^vllOIll  lie  had 
been  intimately  allied  and  specially  endeared.  His  work  on 
the  "  Eldership "  is  in  great  and  general  repute,  at  least 
throughout  his  own  denomination;  and  I  have  no  less  authority 
than  that  of  Dr.  Chalmers  for  saying  that  it  is  tlie  very  ])est 
work  that  has  been  given  to  the  church  on  that  subject.  He 
published  a  large  number  of  occasional  discourses  which  are 
worthy  of  a  more  permanent  existence  tlian,  I  i'ear,  from  the 
form  in  wdiich  they  have  appeared,  they  are  likely  to  have.  I 
think  it  will  be  generally  conceded  that  few,  if  any,  of  his  con- 
temporaries in  the  American  church,  have  done  so  much  by 
the  pen  to  perpetuate  their  influence  as  himself;  and  if  a  list 
were  to  be  made  out  of  a  very  small  number  of  our  writers  wlio 
are  most  known  and  most  respected  abroad,  his  name  would 
undoubtedly  have  a  prominent  place  among  them."^ 

"Although  the  public  has  reason  to  expect  a  memoir  of  this 
venerable  servant  of  Christ,  we  cannot  refrain,  at  this  })oint, 
from  adding  something  to  what  we  have  already  said  concerning 
his  character.  His  excellencies  were  admitted  widely  in  the 
Church,  for  he  was  known  throughout  our  own  country  and 
in  foreign  lands.  His  publications  were  numerous,  and  were 
to  a  large  extent  vindications  of  the  doctrines  and  })olity  of  the 
church  which  he  loved.  No  Presbyterian  is  ignorant  of  the 
promptitude,  courage  and  address  with  which  he  came  forward 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  when  what  he  deemed  important 
truth  was  assailed.  As  a  writer,  he  was  remarkable  for  the 
purity  and  perspicuity  of  his  style,  and  the  absence  of  all  mere- 
tricious ornament.  He  was  a  great  reader,  and  was  accustomed 
to  enrich  his  works  with  numerous  and  apt  citations  from  other 
authors.  As  an  instructor,  he  was  laborious,  full  and  lucid. 
For  six  and  thirty  years  he  occupied  the  chair  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  and  Church  Government,  with  a  respect  from  all  con- 
cerned which  augmented  with  his  age."^ 

Dr.  Miller,  while  a  correct  and  careful  writer,  cultivated 
no  special  exactness,  or  uniformity,  orthographical  or  rhe- 
torical. Between  new  and  old  styles  his  spelling  often  va- 
ried. If  ho  followed  Walker,  in  this  respect,  more  fre- 
quently than  Webster,  it  was  from  habit  rather  than  a 
hyper-classical  taste.  As  to  orthoepy,  he  was  suuiuwhat 
particular  ;  and  even  when,  at  a  family  meal,  a  sound  struck 
his  ear  unfavourably,  or  any  word-question  was  proposed, 

^  Dr.  Sprague's  Disc.  Commcm.,  25i-30. 
2  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,  577. 


510  LABOUR   AXD    SORROW.  [CH.  42.   3. 

he  often  rose  from  the  table,  to  consult  a  dictionary  at  once, 
lest  the  matter  should  be  forgotten  ;  and,  doubtless,  this 
correction  of  errors  and  settlement  of  right  usage  upon  the 
spot,  and  in  detail,  was,  for  his  children,  a  constantly  cul- 
tivating process.  Now  and  then,  he  fell,  for  the  nonce,  in- 
to that  manner  of  semi-ritualistic  typographical  reverence, 
wdiich  is  coming  now-a-days  more  and  more  into  vogue — 
the  use  of  capitals,  at  the  beginning  not  only  of  the  names 
of  Deity,  but  also  of  every  personal  pronoun  standing  for 
the  Divine  Being.  This,  however,  was  but  an  occasional 
vagary.  He  was  no  purist  in  any  respect,  and  delighted  in 
no  literary  fopperies. 

His  handwriting  was  rapidly  executed,  bold  and  clear. 
He  composed  with  the  pen  with  considerable  celerity  and 
ease,  always  standing  at  a  desk  of  convenient  height,  and, 
when  his  thoughts  flagged,  pacing  his  study  floor,  to  quicken 
them  by  gentle  bodily  motion.  This  habit  helped  to  main- 
tain his  erect  carriage  and  physical  buoyancy. 

3.  Diary  and  Correspondence. 

One  happy  result  of  Dr.  Miller's  continuing  to  the  latest 
possible  moment,  his  labour  with  the  pen  and  in  the  profes- 
sor's chair — his  accustomed  exercise  also  out  of  doors — was 
the  preservation  of  his  mental  faculties  in  wonderful  vigour 
to  the  last.  These  became  slugo-ish  somewhat  at  times,  but 
never  otherwise  sensibly  impaired. 

The  following  is  from  his  diary, 

'January  1,  1849.  *  *  Among  the  many  mercies,  during 
the  past  year,  which  I  have  to  recount  and  acknowledge,  is  the 
enjoyment  of  better  health  than  during  the  year  previous.  I  have 
been  enabled  to  accomplish  much  more  official  duty  within  the 
last  twelve  months,  than  in  the  preceding  twelve ;  to  write 
more  and  to  labor  more  in  public.  Particularly,  I  would  here 
record  my  thanksgiving,  that  I  have  been  enabled  to  complete 
for  the  press  my  "Thoughts  on  Public  Prayer,"  and  to  correct 
all  the  proof-sheets,  before  the  arrival  of  this  day.' 

To  one  of  his  sons  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  3d  of  Jan- 
uary, 

*I  am  still  very  weak,  and  can  write  but  little.  ^Ye  are,  by 
the  good  Providence  of  God,  all  well  excepting  myself.  I 
never  had  so  severe  an  attack  of  influenza.     It  has  left  me,  in 


1849.]  DIARY   AND    CORRESPONDENCE.  511 

my  eightieth  year,  very  much  debilitated,  indeed,  and  rising 
very  slowly.' 

At  the  request  of  an  association  in  one  of  tlie  ]*resbyte- 
rian  churches  of  Cincinnati,  called  a  "  Society  of  Inquiry," 
Dr.  Miller  Avrote  a  long  letter  of  counsel  and  encourage- 
ment, which  the  Society  published  in  a  small  pamphlet. 
This  bore  date  of  the  :2-l:th  of  January,  1849. 

The  letter  from  which  an  extract  will  next  be  given,  was 
written  in  acknowledf]fmeiit  of  a  bai:  of  clothiii^r  sent,  l»y 
an  association  of  ladies,  for  indigent  students  in  the  Semi- 
nary, and  in  reply  to  a  question  which  the  letter  itself, 
bearing  date  of  the  14th  of  February,  1849,  sufficiently 
discloses. 

'I  am  so  little  acquainted  with  the  members  of  the  churches 

in ,  that  I  feel  diffident  about  giving  advice,  or  even 

making  suggestions  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done  to  obtain  tlieir 
patronage  to  the  institutions  of  our  own  church.  On  the  wiiolo,  I 
am  persuaded  that  nothing  ought  to  be  said  or  done,  that  looks 
like  attempting  to  force  any  to  act  contrary  to  their  convictions 
of  duty.  The  present  pastor  of  the  First  Church  I  do  not  re- 
member ever  to  have  seen ;  but  I  have  heard  accounts  of  him 
which  prepare  me  to  love  and  esteem  him  very  much.  His 
father  was  my  beloved  and  venerated  friend,  for  whom  I  enter- 
tained a  peculiar  affection  ;  and  I  feel,  of  course,  an  attachment 
for,  and  an  interest  in,  all  his  descendants.  I  shouhl  by  no 
means  be  surprised  if  he  should  prefer  Auburn  to  Princeton, 
and  be  disposed  to  throw  his  influence  in  that  direction.  Nor 
should  I  ever  think  of  complaining  of  this.  But  there  are, 
doubtless,  some  of  both  churches,  wlio  would  prefer  devoting 
their  contributions  to  our  own  institutions.  If  I  were  to  give 
any  advice,  it  would  be,  that  those  who  feel  so  should  under- 
stand each  other,  and  <piietly,  and  without  casting  any  reproach 
upon  their  neighbors,  reserve  their  bounty  for  their  own  semi- 
nary and  missionary  boards.  Ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  there 
were  a  few  individuals  even  in  this  seminary,  among  the  stu- 
dents, who  preferred  givinsj  their  contributions  to  the  American 
Board  and  to  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  rather  than  to  our 
own  boards.  The  Professors  did  not  attempt  to  coerce  th(>se  ; 
but,  when  the  students  attended  the  Monthly  Concert,  in  their 
own  place  of  worship,  all  that  preferred  other  boards  to  our 
own  were  allowed  to  throw  in  their  mites  folded  up  and  marked 
for  the  object  which  was  ])referred.  This  was  done  (jiiietly,  and 
without  controversy  or  offence  ;  and  worked  so  well,  that  after  a 


512  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  4. 

short  time,  all  came  into  the  plan  of  patronizing  none  but  our 
own  institutions  ;  so  that  for  seven  or  eight  years  past,  they 
have  been  unanimous  in  favour  of  the  latter.  I  have  known 
some  congregations  to  adopt  the  same  quiet, amicable  practice; 
and,  in  almost  every  case,  it  led  to  gradual,  but,  finally,  entire 
unanimity,  in  favour  of  our  own  boards.  I  think,  if  you  were 
to  manage  thus  in ,  it  would  put  an  end  to  all  contro- 
versy on  this  subject,  and  perhaps  lead  to  a  similar  ultimate 
unanimity.' 

4.     The  Aged  Colleagues. 

The  following  extracts  are  from  a  letter  of  the  28th  of 
February,   to  the   Rev.  Dr.  Henry  A.  Boardman. 

*  Do  you  know  that  I  have  never  laid  eyes  on  you  since  your 
return  from  Europe  ;  and  that  this  letter  is  the  first  "scrape  of 
a  pen"  from  your  hand  that  I  have  seen  for  more  than  two 
years?     You  will  not  wonder  then  that  it  was  welcome. 

'I  thank  you,  my  dear  Brother,  for  the  kind  expressions 
which  you  employ  on  the  prospect  of  my  retiring  from  office.  I 
am,  indeed,  nearly  worn  out.  Far  advanced  in  my  eightieth 
year,  I  have  outlived  all  my  relatives,  and  all  my  own  expecta- 
tions, and  am  compassed  about  with  so  many  infirmities,  that  I  am 
persuaded  a  longer  continuance  in  office  would  be  in  no  respect 
just  either  to  the  Seminary  or  myself.  Yet  in  looking  forward  to 
retirement  from  official  labour,  and  especially  to  that  day,  which 
is  near  at  hand,  when  I  must  "put  off  this  tabernacle,"  I  desire 
to  bless  God  for  the  humble  hope  which  I  am  permitted  to  en- 
tertain, that  I  have  so  good  a  home  to  go  to,  where  there  will  be 
no  more  infirmity,  and  especially  no  more  sin ;  but  perfect  union 
and  conformity  to  him,  who,  though  he  w'as  rich,  for  our  sakes 
became  poor,  that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich. 

*  I  desire  to  unite  with  you,  my  dear  Brother,  in  thanksgiving 
to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  that  our  beloved  Seminary 
has  been  made  so  useful  to  our  Zion,  by  training  so  large  a 
portion  of  our  ministry,  under  the  same  Teachers ;  and  I  hope 
I  have  some  sincere  gratitude,  that  I  have  been  permitted  to 
occupy  a  place,  and  take  some  humble  part  in  this  hallowed 
work.  But  I  can  truly  say  that  the  sentiment  which  most 
strongly  and  prominently  occupies  my  mind,  is  that  of  thank- 
fulness that  the  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  unite  me  with  Col- 
leagues so  wise,  so  faithful,  so  much  superior  to  myself,  and  so 
eminently  adapted  to  be  a  blessing  to  the  Church.  I  consider  it 
as  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  my  life  to  be  united  with 


"^849.]  THE    AGED    COLLEAGUES.  513 

sucli  men,  and  pre-eminently  with  my  senior  Colleague,  whose 
wisdom,  prudence,  learning  and  ])eculiar  piety,  have  served  as 
an  aid  and  guide  to  myself,  as  well  as  to  others.  I  desire  to 
leave  it  on  record  for  the  eye  of  intiiuate  friendship,  that, 
in  my  own  estimation,  my  union  with  these  hcloved  men  has 
been  the  means  of  adding  to  my  own  respectability,  and  my 
own  usefulness  far  more  than  I  could  ever,  humanly  speaking, 
have  attained,  either  alone,  or  in  association  with  almost  any 
other  men.  I  desire  especially  to  be  thankful  that  I  ever  .saw 
the  face  of  my  venerated  senior  Colleague.  He  ha^  been,  for 
thirty-six  years,  to  me,  a  counsellor,  a  guide,  a  prop,  and  a  stay, 
under  God,  to  a  degree,  which  it  would  not  be  eiusy  for  me  to 
estimate  or  acknowledge. 

'The  union  in  our  faculty  has  been  complete.  And  tlie  solid 
basis  of  the  whole,  has  been  a  perfect  agreement,  on  the  part 
of  all  of  us,  in  an  honest  subsciuptlon  to  our  doctrinal  foniuild- 
ries.  There  has  been  no  discrepance — no  j)ulling  in  different 
directions  here. 

*I  am  glad  you  approve  of  the  little  volume  which  I  have 
lately  published.  I  did  think  it  was  needed;  and  I  trust  it  will 
not  be  useless.' 

In  a  note  of  the  30th  of  May,  1850,  forwarding  this 
letter  to  one  of  Dr.  Miller's  sons,  Dr.  l^oardmau  kindly 
remarked, 

*  I  send  herewith  a  letter  of  your  honored  father's,  which,  I 
am  persuaded,  wilj  be  read  by  his  family  with  peculiar  interest. 
It  would  be  quite  superfluous  for  me  to  attem})t  to  character- 
ize it ;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying,  that  I  have  never  seen 
a  more  beautiful  and  impressive  exhibition  of  the  spirit  of  true 
Christian  humility  than  that  which  is  here  presented.  We  felt 
assured,  (my  family  and  myself,)  on  receiving  this  letter — if, 
indeed,  we  had  needed  any  fresh  assurance — that  grace  had 
well-nigh  perfected  its  work  with  the  venerable  patriarch,  and 
that  he  must  be  very  near  his  crown.' 

The  larger  part  of  the  letter  thus  referred  to  appears  in 
the  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,^  whose  biographer  says,  "  It 
has  a  pathos  which  will  go  to  many  a  heart." 

The  same  biographer,  after  speaking  of  the  strong  con- 
trasts, which  his  character  and  habits  and  those  of  Dr. 
Miller  exhibited  in  several  respects,  goes  on  to  observe, 

"With   such    marked  differences,  it  is  certainly  no   slight 

1  Pp.  582-584. 


514  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  4. 

matter  to  record,  that  during  a  lifetime  of  common  service, 
these  two  men  never  had  an  alienation,  or  the  difference  of  an 
hour.  In  opinion  they  frequently  diverged ;  yet  mutual  re- 
spect and  affection  were  never  violated,  but  rather  increased 
with  every  year  of  their  lives.  Placed  in  circumstances  which 
might  have  engendered  rivalry,  they  appeared  to  rejoice  in 
each  other's  gifts  and  success.  From  the  beginning  of  their 
acquaintanceship.  Dr.  Miller  always  resorted  to  his  younger 
colleague  as  his  wisest  adviser.  He  admired  his  learning,  tes- 
tified the  profoundest  reverence  for  his  judgment  and  piety, 
coveted  his  company,  and  unfeignedly  delighted  in  his  minis- 
trations. On  the  other  hand.  Dr.  Alexander  regarded  his 
friend  and  brother  with  the  heartiest  affection.  Again  and 
again  has  he  been  heard  to  say,  that  for  the  charitable  use  of 
his  means,  for  adherence  to  his  rules  of  self-control,  and  espe- 
cially for  exemption  from  all  traces  of  vanity  and  of  envy, 
Dr.  Miller  surpassed  all  men  he  had  ever  known.  He  was 
fond  of  saying,  that  after  more  than  thirty  years'  proximity, 
he  had  never  detected  in  his  colleague  the  slightest  appearance 
of  jealousy.  This  was  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  is  well-known 
that  with  all  his  varied  excellencies.  Dr.  Miller,  as  a  preacher, 
was  less  followed  by  popular  admiration  than  his  friend." 

u  ^  "^  as  years  rolled  on,  and  old  age  arrived,  the  concord 
and  affection  of  these  servants  of  Christ  presented  a  beautiful 
and  edifying  spectacle.  They  conversed  together  and  prayed 
together ;  and  as  their  hoary  heads  appeared,  with  a  punctu- 
ality belonging  to  both,  in  the  devotional  and  other  more  pub- 
lic services  of  the  Seminary,  the  moral  influence  of  the  sight 
upon  their  numerous  and  respectful  pupils  was  happy  and  in- 
delible."^ 

What,  in  the  foregoing  extract,  the  biographer  alleges 
concerning  Dr.  Miller's  high  appreciation  of  his  honored 
Golleague's  talents,  learning,  judgment,  piety  and  power  in 
the  pulpit,  those  who  were  most  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  former  can  not  only  endorse,  but  even  reiterate  in  much 
stronger  terms.  Dr.  Miller  regarded  Dr.  Alexander  as 
pre-eminent  in  spiritual  experience,  discernment  and  skill ; 
as  a  singularly  gifted  preacher  ;  as  a  truly  wonderful  man 
in  native  vigor  of  mind,  and  varied  erudition  ;  as  indeed 
far  beyond  all  thought  of  competition  in  these  respects. 

Of  Dr.  Alexander's  last  years,  his  biographer  remarks, 

"  At  no  time  did  he  carry  more  weight  among  his  attached 

1  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,  382,  383. 


1849.]  RESIGNATION.  515 

pupils  than  in  these  years  of  venerahlo  dcrline.  *  *  It  wa« 
a  touching  sight  to  behold  the  forms  of  liimself  and  his  aged 
colleague  on  those  occasions  when  they  a])i)L'ared  together  at 
the  head  of  their  students.  ^Slany  an  observer  was  ])r()inpted 
to  exclaim,  "  The  hoary  head  is  a  crown  of  glory,  if  it  be  found 
in  the  way  of  righteousness !"  "^ 

The  following  paragraphs  appeared  in  The  Presbyterian 
after  Dr.  Miller's  death. 

" Dr.  Miller's  Views  of  "Be(;(;ing." — As  a  mend)er  of 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  ]\Iissionary,  Bible,  Tract,  and 
Education  Society  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton, 
New  Jersey,  in  the  spring  of  1849,  I  called  upon  the  venerable 
Dr.  Miller,  to  solicit  his  annual  contribution  to  one  of  the 
objects  of  its  care.     As  soon  as  he  knew  the  purj)Ose  for  which 

I  came,  he  said,  "Certainly,  Mr.  L ,  I  will  contribute,  for 

I  esteem  it  a  great  privilege,  as  well  as  an  important  duty ;  and 
I  am  greatly  obliged  to  yoii  (!)  for  that  kind  attention  wliich 
enables  me  to  do  it  at  home." 

"  He  seemed  as  much  gratified  as  if  I  had  been  the  bearer 
of  a  costly  present. 

"  In  what  bold  contrast  does  this  language  and  conduct  stand 
with  that  of  those  professing  Christians,  who  are  ever  com- 
plaining of  being  "dogged  by  agents"  to  give  without  trouble 
or  expense,  "  at  home,"  what  they  owe  to  God  I        J.  K.  L." 

5.    Resignation. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  Dr.  Miller  again  offered  liis  re- 
signation to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Seminary,  to 
take  effect  at  the  close  of  the  session  in  May.  Referring 
to  his  previous  communication  of  the  3d  of  November, 
1847,  he  said, 

'  You  were  pleased  to  request  me  to  withdraw  that  resigna- 
tion, and  to  continue  my  labours  awhile  longer.  To  tliis  pro- 
posal, made  so  much  in  the  si)irit  of  respectful  kindness,  I  was 
prevailed  upon  to  accede.  But  I  am  now  persuaded  that  any 
further  delay  in  urging  this  resignation,  would  l)e,  on  my  part, 
altogether  unwise.  In  saying  this,  my  first  wish,  and  that 
which  is  most  strongly  dictated  by  a  sense  of  infirmity,  is  to  l)c 
entirely  and  finally  released  from'all  stated  ]al)our  in  the  Semi- 
nary. But,  if,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  any 
consideration,  either  of  convenience  or  usefulness,  should  lead 
them  to  believe,  that  my  continuing  to  lecture  occasioually,  as 

'  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,  571,  575. 


51(3  LABOUR    AXD    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  5. 

my  health  and  strength  may  allow,  on  Church  Government 
and  Sermonizing,  would  be  in  any  respect  desirable,  I  shall 
certainly  not  decline  to  do  all  that  the  providence  of  God  may 
render  practicable,  to  serve  an  institution  in  which  I  have 
passed  the  happiest  years  of  my  life,  and  to  the  guardians  of 
which  I  feel  so  deep  an  obligation.' 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dana,  of  Newburyport,  Dr.  Miller 
wrote  on  the  22d  of  March, 

*I  hope,  my  reverend  and  venerated  Brother,  that  your 
health  and  comfort,  in  your  advanced  life,  are  happily  main- 
tained. I  am  far  advanced  in  my  eightieth  year,  and  am  en- 
compassed with  many  of  the  infirmities  which  attend  that 
period  of  life.  I  gave  in,  the  day  before  yesterday,  the  resig- 
nation of  my  office  to  our  Board  of  Directors  ;  but  they  de- 
clined accepting  it,  appointed  a  brother  to  take  a  part  of  my 
labor  off  my  hands,  and  requested  me  to  continue  in  office. 
They  certainly  have  treated  me  with  most  fraternal  kindness ; 
but  I  shall  not  be  able,  in  all  probability,  to  labor  much 
longer.' 

To  one  of  his  sons  he  wrote  four  days  later, 

*  I  presented  the  resignation  of  my  office  to  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors of  the  Seminary  on  the  20th  instant.  They  again  refused 
to  accept  of  it,  but  appointed  Dr.  J.  A.  Alexander  to  take  the 
department  of  Ecclesiastical  History  off  my  hands,  and  author- 
ized the  Faculty  again  to  employ  a  teacher  in  Hebrew.  I,  of 
course,  remain  in  my  place  until  the  providence  of  God  re- 
moves me.  But,  in  the  meantime,  as  I  am  relieved  of  one- 
third  of  my  labor,  I  shall  probably  deem  it  good  policy,  and 
even  a  duty,  to  give  up  one-third  of  my  present  salary.  How- 
ever generous  the  Board  may  be  as  to  this  point,  I  am  per- 
suaded that  public  opinion  will  demand  something  like  this  at 
m}"  hands. 

'  "^  *  But  all  this  may  be  undone  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly.    *     *     with  that  body  is  the  ultimate  action  in  the  case.'. 

Dr.  Miller  had  previously,  for  a  year  or  more,  satisfied 
his  views  of  propriety,  by  contributing  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  his  salary  to  the  support  of  the  institution.  From 
this  time  he  regularly  paid  back  one-half  of  it  to  the 
Treasurer. 

The  General  Assembly  adopted  the  following  minute  : — 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  unite  with  the  Board  of 
Directors  in  expressions  of  thankfulness  to  God,  that  he  has 
spared  the  life  and  health  of  the  venerable  Professor  of  Eccle- 


1849.]  RESIGNATION.  OlT 

siastical  History  and  Church  Government  for  so  many  yeai*s, 
and  that  our  beloved  Church  has  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his 
valued  instructions  and  labours  from  the  infancy  of  the  Semi- 
nary to  this  time. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  unite  with  tlie  Board  in 
recording  their  grateful  sense  of  tlie  manifohl  faitiiful  and 
most  important  services  which  the  venerable  Professor  has  ren- 
dered to  our  Church,  and  to  the  cause  of  trutli  and  righteous- 
ness, and  they  beg  to  assure  him  of  their  cordial  sympatliy  in 
the  bodily  infirmities  which  have  led  )iim  to  seek  a  release  from 
the  duties  of  his  office. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Samuel  iMiller,  I).I).,  be  and 
hereby  is  entirely  released  from  all  obligation  to  give  instruc- 
tion in  each  and  allof  the  departments  of  his  professorship. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  Dr.  Miller  be  requested  to  give  such  in- 
structions and  perform  such  services  as  on  consultation  witli  Ins 
fellow  professors  may  be  convenient  and  agreeable  to  himself. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Samuel  Mdler,  D.D.,  shall  con- 
tinue to  enjoy  intact  the  salary  and  all  the  other  riizhts  of  his 
professorship,  during  his  natural  life,  under  the  title  of  Emeri- 
tus Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Govern- 
ment."^ 

The  foresroinsr  resolutions  were  in  accordance  with  the 
views  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  who,  meanwliile,  had  re- 
considered their  refusal  to  accept  the  resignation,  and  in 
kindness  determined  that  all  the  burdens  of  the  professor- 
ship should  be  removed,  without,  however,  any  deduction 
from  the  salary;  while  Dr.  Miller  should  be  permitted  to 
retain  any  portion  that  he  preferred  of  his  professorial 
duties.  To  the  Rev.  William  S.  Plumer,  D,T>.,  he  wrote 
on  the  8th  of  June, 

'I  rejoice  that  you  were  permitted  to  go  to  Pittsburgh,  and 
feel  a  deep  sense  of  my  debt  to  you  for  what  was  done  there, 
and  especially  done  so  largely,  under  God,  through  your  coun- 
sel and  instrumentality. 

'  The  manner  in  which  the  General  Assembly  disposed  of  ray 
resignation  was  not  only  kind,  respectful  and  generous,  but  to 
me  most  unexpectedly  and  marvellously  so.  I  certainly  feel 
highly  gratified  and  thankful  for  it  all  on  my  own  account ;  but 
I  think  I  do  not  deceive  myself  when  I  say,  that  I  feel  still 
more  gratified  and  thankful,  when  1  think  of  the  honor  the 
Church  has  done  herself  by  such  elevated  and  generous  mea- 

1  Minutes  1849,  p.  249. 


518  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [cil.  42.  6. 

sures.  When  I  contrast  it  with  some  other  things,  I  feel  that 
it  is  honorable  to  me  to  be  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  God  grant  that  I  may  be  enabled  suitably  to  appro- 
priate this  honor,  and  to  acquit  myself  accordingly. 

'  For  all  your  kind,  affectionate  remarks,  for  all  your  gener- 
ous proposals,  and  for  all  your  filial  influences  exerted  in  the 
Assembly  in  my  behalf,  I  beg  of  you  to  accept  my  grateful 
acknowledgments.  A  deep  sense  of  them  will  never  be  erased 
from  my  mind  while  I  retain  a  memory. 

'  But,  my  dear  Brother,  a  grave  question  arises: — w^ill  public 
sentiment  bear  what  has  been  done  in  my  case  ?  and  will  the 
low  state  of  the  Seminary  treasury  bear  it  ?  What  will  be 
thought  of  giving  a  man  full  wages  who  does  not  pretend  to  do 
full  work  ;  nay,  who  is  not  obliged  to  do  any,  or  more  than  just 
what  he  pleases  ?  I  could  live  without  any  part  of  the  salary 
voted  to  be  continued  to  me ;  but  in  this  case  I  must  instantly 
lay  aside  many  of  the  comforts  which  I  now  enjoy,  and  confine 
myself  to  a  style  of  living  painfully  restricted.  I  am  resolved 
to  return  into  the  Treasury  a  part  of  my  salary.  But  how 
much  will  it  be  equitable  and  wuse  to  return  ?  And  in  what 
manner  ought  the  thing  to  be  done  ?  I  feel  as  if  we  were  now 
setting  precedents.  I  am  not  acting  for  myself  alone.  My 
present  intention  is  to  return  just  one-half,  at  each  quarterly 
payment,  into  the  Treasurer's  hands.  Yet  I  have  made  no 
public  promise  to  this  amount;  and  as  no  one  living  has  done 
more  to  secure  this  salary  to  me,  so  no  one  has  a  better  right 
than  yourself  to  offer  an  opinion  how  I  ought  to  manage  the 
business.  If  I  could  live  in  tolerable  comfort  without  any  part 
of  the  salary,  I  should  doubt  the  delicacy  and  wisdom  of  de- 
clining to  receive  any  of  it,  lest  I  might  embarrass  those  who 
shall  come  after  me. 

*  May  blessing  rest  upon  you  and  yours  in  every  thing ;  so 
prays  your  affectionate  brother,  etc' 

6.     Miscellaneous  Topics. 

Dr.  Miller  sent  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  W.  Phillips,  amember  of 
this  Assembly,  a  formula  of  adult  baptism,  to  be  laid  before 
the  body.  The  latter,  writing  to  him  on  the  1st  of  June, 
gave  the  following  account  of  the  action  taken  on  this  paper. 

'  I  also  received  the  formula  for  administering  baptism  to 
adults,  and,  being  one  of  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures, 
brought  it  immediately  before  them.  All  approved  the  object, 
and  thought  it  very  desirable  to  have  a  uniform  mode  of  per- 


1849.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  519 

forming  that  service.  It  was,  however,  lon^^^er  and  more  ex- 
panded than  was  considered  necessary  ;  and  all,  except  two,  of 
the  committee  were  in  favor  of  inserting  a  question  re<iuiiing  a 
recognition  of  our  public  standards  of  faith.  It  was  tiicrt'lore 
referred  to  a  sub-committee  of  three,  to  modify  and  condense 
it,  and  to  add,  "  Do  you  approve  of  the  doctrine,  government 
and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  so  far  as  you  under- 
stand them?"  In  this  form  it  was  about  to  be  rej)orted  to  the 
Assembly,  when  I  mentioned  it  to  Dr.  Hodge.  He  objected 
strongly  to  such  a  question,  and  said  that  you  and  Dr.  Alex- 
ander would  also.  I  then  conversed  with  the  chairman.  Dr. 
McGill,  and  brought  the  question  again  before  the  Committee, 
with  a  view  of  leaving  out  that  part ;  but  they  refused.  15y  this 
time  it  had  been  noised  abroad  among  the  members,  that  suth 
a  paper  was  to  be  reported,  and  opposition  was  arrayed  against 
it;  so  that  when  it  was  reported,  the  person  who  had  been,  as  I 
suppose,  spoken  to  on  the  subject,  arose  and,  after  remarking, 
very  inconsistently,  that  it  was  the  most  important  business 
that  had  been  before  us,  moved  that  it  be  indefinitely  post- 
poned. The  friends  of  the  paper,  being  unwilling  to  introduce 
a  discussion  when  they  saw  the  Assembly  imjiatient,  allowed 
the  vote  to  be  taken  silently,  and  the  motion  was  carried  by  a 
large  majority.  I  need  not  say  that  I  felt  more  than  disap- 
pointed, and  still  feel  pained  at  this  disposal  of  it.  *  ^^^  *  I 
ought  also  to  say,  that  the  committee  decided  to  ask  the  As- 
sembly to  pass  it  as  a  recommendation  merely,  instea<l  of  asking 
them  to  send  it  down  to  the  presbyteries,  knowing  tin;  reluc- 
tance and  unwillingness  which  are  felt  to  alter  our  Book.' 

The  minutes  represent  the  paper  to  have  been  laid  upon 
the  table  by  a  vote  of  ninety-two  to  thirty-two.' 

Most  kindly  and  bountifully,  as  Ave  have  seen,  tlie  churcli 
had  provided  for  the  honor  and  comfort  of  Dr.  Miller's 
declining  health  and  strength  ;  but  he  was  not  long  to  enjoy 
her  liberality,  or  to  serve  her  with  even  his  counsel,  or  his 
prayers.  The  twilight  of  his  closing  day  was  comjiara- 
tively  short — perhaps  shortened,  and  tjiat,  for  himself,  not 
unhappily,  by  the  calm  in  which  he  was  now  already  per- 
mitted to  repose,  if  not  altogether  from  his  labors,  at  least 
from  their  burden  and  harassing  responsibility.  The 
Church,  as  if  in  anticipation  of  a  higher  award,  had  said, 
"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant  I " — ha<l  crowned 
his  old  age  with  her  most  indulgent  honors.     J  lis  remain- 

^  p.  266. 


520  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  6. 

ing  earthly  blessings  of  hom3  and  affection  were  complete; 
while  his  assurance  of  the  Saviour's  love,  and  of  heavenly 
mansions,  seemed  unwavering.  Henceforth  his  life  ap- 
peared to  be,  practically,  but  a  continued  reiteration  of  the 
sentiment — "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace  !" 

To  the  eyes  of  ever  watching  affection,  less  visibly  than 
to  the  sight  of  those  who  saw  Dr.  Miller  only  at  intervals, 
the   infirmities   of   age  had   crept  over   him.     Time   had, 
indeed,  been  long  noiselessly  and  gently  at  work,  subduing 
and  wasting  his  still  erect  form,  and  stealing  away  the  vigor 
from  his  limbs,  which  yet  found  it  hard  to  accustom  them- 
selves  to    ''go   softly."     His  health,  always   delicate  and 
easily   affected,  had   nevertheless   rallied,   and,   uniformly, 
though  with  increasing  age  more  slowly,  recovered  itself, 
until  the  last  spring  which  he  spent  on  earth.     Up  to  the 
close  of  the  Seminary  session  in  May,  he  continued  to  dis- 
charge his  professorial  duties  with  tolerable  comfort ;  and 
preached  in  regular  turn  in  the  chapel  on  the  Lord's  day, 
April  22d  ;  when  his  text  was  John  14,  2 — "  In  my  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions  :  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have 
told  you.     I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."     This  was  his 
last  sermon  in  Princeton,  though  he   preached  one  more 
which  will  be  referred  to  by  and  by. 

During  this  spring,  the  symptoms  of  his  decline  became 
gradually  more  apparent,  his  infirmities  more  discomforting. 
Now  his  health  was  evidently  and  steadily  sinking,  without 
any  promise  of  even  temporary  convalescence ;  or  each 
rising  wave  fell  so  far  short  of  the  wave  preceding,  as  to 
prove  clearly  that  life's  tide  was  rapidly  ebbing.  In  the 
month  of  May,  he  began  to  be  perceptibly  affected  with  a 
difficulty  and  shortness  of  breath,  ascribed  by  his  medical 
attendant,  to  incipient  disease  of  the  heart,  a  frequent 
result  of  old  age — the  wheel  breaking  at  the  cistern.  From 
this  cause  he  continued  to  suffer,  more  or  less,  as  long  as 
he  lived — at  intervals  distressingly.  Yet  his  pains  were 
never  very  acute  or  racking.  It  is  one  of  the  desirable 
privileges  and  blessings  of  those  who  have  lived  long,  and, 
even  in  a  physical  sense  only,  lived  well,  that  they  pass 
aAvay  at  last  more  softly  and  serenely  than  others.  The 
slow  decay  of  nature  is   far   less  painful,  commonly,  than 


1849.]  MISCELLANEOUS   TOPICS.  521 

its  violent  breaking  down.  With  the  access  of  this  disease, 
or  infirmity,  came  also  the  loss  of  that  healthy  ami  ro^ndar 
appetite  for  food,  which  he  had  for  the  most  part  enjoyed  ; 
and  his  strength  fiiilod  so  much,  that  he  was  soon  obliged 
to  forego,  almost  entirely,  his  accustomed  invigorating 
walks,  for  exercise,  as  he  had  before  his  rides  on  horseback. 
All  the  summer,  however,  and  until  October,  he  continued 
to  drive  himself  out,  spending  sometimes  a  large  part  of 
the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  some  member  of  his  family, 
in  this  only  kind  of  exercise  that  remained  for  him. 

During  the  month  of  June,  Dr.  Miller  was  invited  to 
take  part  in  a  festival  of  the  graduates  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  of  which  he  was  now  the  oldest  living 
alumnus.  It  was  proposed  to  celebrate  the  first  complete 
Centenary  of  the  Institution.  His  answer  to  the  committee 
who  wrote  to  him  was  as  follows : — 

"Gentlemen,  Princeton,  June  22d,  1849. 

"I  had  the  honour  of  receiving,  a  few  days  ago,  your  polite 
note,  announcing  to  me  the  approaching  "Second  Annual 
Dinner  of  the  Graduates  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania," 
and  inviting  me,  as  one  of  your  number,  to  attend  and  take 
part  in  that  interesting  festival.  It  is  just  sixty  years,  since 
that  University — my  beloved  and  venerated  Alma  Mater,  con- 
ferred upon  me  my  first  literary  honours.  Nor  is  this  all  I 
have  to  acknowledge  at  her  hands.  ^lore  than  twenty  years 
afterwards,  not  unmindful  of  her  humble  son,  she,  unsolicited, 
conferred  upon  me  a  higher  professional  degree,  for  which  I 
have  ever  felt  deeply  thankful.  Yet  more,  l)esides  these  per- 
sonal obligations,  I  cannot  help  calling  to  mind  on  this  occiusion, 
so  well  adapted  to  revive  the  impressions  of  the  past,  that  three 
beloved  brothers,  long  since  deceased,  were,  in  succession,  sharers 
with  myself  in  the  favours  of  this  honoured  })areut.  You  will 
readily  believe  me,  then,  when  I  say,  that  I  regard  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania  with  the  deepest  filial  and  grateful  inter- 
est;  and  that  it  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  I  can  express 
to  be  present  with  you,  and  to  unite  in  the  literary  feitst  which 
you  have  announced  ;  but  being  now  in  the  cujht'uili  year  of  my 
age,  and  feeling  the  heavy  and  growing  pressure  of  the  infirm- 
ities which  usually  attend  that  period  of  life,  I  am  compelled^ 
to  avoid  all  ceremonious  meetings  and  public  a.ssemblied  of 
every  kind. 

'*  The  great  advantage  of  such  anniversary  celebrati«)ns  is,  that 
they  afford  opportunities  of  cherishing  and  exprcaaing  seuti- 
VOL  II— o'J 


522  LABOUR    AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  6. 

ments  favourable  to  the  best  interests  of  society  and  of  man- 
kind, and  esjoecially  of  uniting  in  plans  and  counsels  subservient 
to  the  honour  and  elevation  of  the  institutions  in  whose  behalf 
they  are  held.  The  longer  I  live,  the  more  deep  is  ray  convic- 
tion that  the  training  which  is  denominated  Liberal  Education, 
is  of  little  real  value,  either  to  the  individual  who  receives  it, 
or  to  the  community  of  which  he  is  a  member,  unless  it  be  ac- 
companied and  directed  by  true  religion.  To  labor  to  impart  a 
high  degree  of  the  former  to  liim  who  knows  nothing  of  the 
latter,  is  like  putting  a  weapon  of  keen  edge  and  of  great 
power  in  the  hands  of  a  madman.  He  may  not  use  it  for  de- 
struction ;  but  there  is  the  highest  probability  that  he  will  not 
employ  it  for  good. 

"  I  do  not  know,  my  respected  friends,  on  what  principles,  as 
to  one  point,  your  coming  festival  is  to  be  conducted.  Whether 
your  toasts  or  sentiments  are  to  be  accompanied  with  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks,  or  with  those  only  of  a  different  kind.  If 
the  former,  I  feel  at  liberty  only  to  say,  that,  after  having  been 
for  two  and  twenty  years  a  pledged  abstainer  from  all  that  can 
intoxicate,  and  convinced  as  I  am,  with  daily  growing  confi- 
dence, that  this  system  of  abstinence  from  stimulating  beverages 
is  desirable  and  important  for  all  classes  of  men,  but  peculiarly 
so  for  youth,  and  above  all  for  the  members  of  our  literary 
institutions,  I  can  take  no  part  in  countenancing  an  opposite 
system.  But  if  your  anniversary  feast  is  to  be  conducted  with- 
out the  use  of  intoxicating  beverages,  then  I  would  most  respect- 
fully propose  a  sentiment  to  be  disposed  of  at  the  time  and  in 
the  way  your  wisdom  may  dictate. 

"  Sincerely  hoping  and  praying  that  every  thing  ornamental 
and  gratifying  may  attend  your  anniversary,  and  that  our  be- 
loved and  venerated  Alma  Mater  may  every  year  grow  in 
strength,  honour,  and  in  usefulness,  I  am 

*'  Your  fellow  graduate, 

"  Samuel  Miller." 

To  one  of  his  grandchildren,  Polly  (Mary  Cabell)  Breck- 
inridge, afterwards  married  to  Colonel  Peter  A.  Porter,  of 
Niagara  Falls,  Dr.  Miller  wrote  on  the  30th  of  July, 

*  I  live  a  most  laborious  life.  The  demands  on  me  for  letter- 
writing  are  always  beyond  my  strength.  "Were  you  called 
upon  to  write  a  long  letter  every  day  that  you  live,  besides  all 
your  other  engagements,  you  would  doubtless  consider  it  a 
burden.  I  have  scarcely  passed  a  day  for  thirty  years,  without 
such  a  demand  on  me ;  and  sometimes  three  or  four  letters  of 
considerable  length  are  required ;  so  that  I  have  hardly  been 


1849.]  THE    LAST    SERMOX.  523 

able,  for  many  years  together,  to  keep  uj)  with  these  deinaiul.^. 
Instead  of  being  able  to  ^et  ahead  of  tiicin  at  any  time,  I  a  in 
ever  a  delin(|nent,  and  habitually  have  the  disconiibrtof  ItT-ling 
myself  to  be  so.' 

7.     The  Last  Sermox. 

Once  more — on  the  10th  of  xVugust — he  was  able,  ac- 
cording to  his  long  and  often  indulged  taste,  to  drive  out 
upon  the  Sabbath  to  a  neighboring  church,  where  he 
thought  his  services  might  be  useful  and  acceptabh'.  and 
offer  to  preach.  It  was  to  the  church  of  Dutch  Neck,  dis- 
tant about  five  miles,  where  he  h:id,  psrhaps,  preached  in 
this  way,  oftener  than  in  any  other  place,  that  he  now  con- 
secrated his  latest  effort.  After  Dr.  Miller's  deaili,  this 
service  was  very  kindly  and  graphically  described  by  the 
greatly  respected  pastor  of  the  church — the  lU'V.  George 
Ely,  since  deceased — in  the  Presbyterian,  as  follows: — 

^'Messrs.  Editors — It  will  probably  afford  some  pleasure  to 
you,  and  many  others  of  the  numerous  friends  of  the  late  ven- 
erated Dr.  Miller,  to  have  some  account  of  his  l(t.if  jjuhlic  service. 
And  to  most  of  us,  we  cannot  but  believe,  that  it  will  be  more 
than  a  matter  merely  of  gratification  ;  that  it  will  be  for  our 
edification  to  contemplate  this  last  exhibition  of  his  entire  de- 
votedness  to  his  blaster's  service. 

"  The  third  Sabbath  in  August  last  was  a  very  pleasant  day; 
and  as  usual,  I  left  my  home  in  time  to  be  at  Dutch  Xeck  a  few- 
moments  before  the  hour  of  public  worship.  Ui)on  entering 
the  church,  the  first  object  upon  which  my  eye  rested  was  the 
feeble  and  enaaciated  person  of  this  aged  and  beloved  father 
in  Israel,  seated  upon  the  platform  below  the  pulpit.  1  has- 
tened forward,  and  expressed  to  him  my  unexpectecl  delight  at 
finding  him  there;  for  he  had  come,  not  at  my  particular  invi- 
tation, but.from  his  own  desire  once  more  to  "  preach  Je>us"  to 
that  little  flock,  which  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  whilst  without  a 
pastor,  had  been  kept  together  by  the  uniteil  oversight  and  la- 
bours of  himself  and  Dr.  Alexander. 

"As  the  number  assembled  was  (^uite  small,  I  stated  to  hiin 
as  the  reason  of  it,  that  it  was  not  yet  the  appointed  time  for 
worshij)  bv  ten  minutes.  Such  an  occasion,  as  all  wIjo  know 
Dr.  Miller's  theory  and  practice,  will  readily  imagine  c«.uld  nut 
be  permitted  to  pass  without  speaking  a  few  words  lus  to  th.-  im- 
portance oi pundiudity  on  the  part  of  ministers.  lie  had  been' 
there  some  ten  minutes  when  I  arrived. 


524  LABOUR    AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  7. 

"As  lie  arose  and  ascended  the  steps  to  the  pulpit,  I  saw  he 
was  very  feeble ;  and  in  his  request,  that  I  would  conduct  all 
the  services  preceding  the  sermon,  he  stated  as  the  reason,  that 
he  had  not  sufficient  strength  to  do  it  himself.  These  done,  he 
arose  and  announced  his  text — Heb.  vi.  19,  "Which  hope  we 
have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast;  and 
which  entereth  into  that  within  the  veil."    / 

"  In  prosecuting  his  subject,  he  first  spoke  of  the  differences 
between  the  anchor  of  a  ship  and  "hope"  as  the  anchor  of  the 
soul.  Several  of  these  differences  were  noticed,  but  the  one  upon 
which  he  dwelt  with  the  greatest  feeling  and  fervency  was,  that 
whilst  the  anchor  of  the  ship  takes  hold  07i  things  below,  "  hope," 
the  anchor  of  the  believer's  soul,  takes  hold  on  things  above. 
Here  he  had  to  leave  his  notes;  his  feelings  became  intense, 
and  his  soul  was  too  full  of  deep  emotion  to  be  restricted  by  any 
thing  previously  written.  His  "  hope,"  for  the  moment,  seemed 
to  be  changed  into  full  fruition  ;  the  "soul"  and  its  "  anchor  " 
to  be  both  together  " withinthe  veil." 

"  Much  in  this  manner  he  continued  throughout  his  dis- 
course ;  leaving  his  notes  at  short  intervals,  and  pouring  forth 
the  abundance  of  his  heart  with  a  force  and  earnestness  that 
appeared  altogether  beyond  his  strength.  His  sermon,  however, 
was  very  short,  not  exceeding  twenty-five  minutes  in  length. 
In  his  application  he  was  exceedingly  felicitous,  and  there 
was  scarcely  an  individual  in  the  house,  who  was  not  moved  to 
tears.  In  the  course  of  it,  he  remarked,  that  he  had  now  be- 
come so  infirm  and  his  voice  so  weak,  that  he  was  entirely  un- 
able to  preach  in  large  churches,  and  the  little  that  remained 
for  him  to  do  in  the  public  service  of  God,  must  be  done  in  his 
small  houses,  such  as  the  one  in  which  we  were  then  worshiping. 
And  in  a  most  touching  way  alluding  to  the  fact  that  his  minis- 
try was  now  nearly  at  an  end,  he  remarked,  "Whether  or  not 
this  may  be  the  last  time  that  I  shall  address  you,  is  a  matter  of 
small  importance.  But  you  may  inquire  how  does  this  '  hope ' 
appear  to  an  old  man  standing  just  upon  the  verge  of  tlie  grave?" 
Lifting  up  both  his  hands,  with  which  he  was  now  supporting 
himself  upon  the  desk,  and  inclining  his  head  backwards,  as 
he  lifted  his  eyes  towards  heaven,  in  a  manner  and  with  an 
expression  of  countenance  which  baffle  any  description,  he  ex- 
claimed, with  a  voice  faltering  with  emotion — "  Oh  !  inexpres- 
sibly DELIGHTFUL."  The  wliolc  scrmou  seemed  to  be  re- 
embodied,  re-preached,  and  again  doubly  enforced  in  this  one 
short  sentence.  And  we  all  felt,  that  if  he  had  said  nothing 
else,  and  we  had  heard  nothing  else,  it  would  have  been  "  good" 


1849.]  LAST    LABOURS    ABROAD    AND    AT    HOME.  525 

for  him  and  for  us  "to  be  there,"  that  morning  in  the  liouse  of 
prayer. 

"  As  he  appeared  much  exhausted,  I  expected  he  would  call 
upon  me  to  make  the  last  prayer,  but  he  made  it  hiniself,  and 
often  as  I  had  heard  Dr.  ^liller  j)niy  before,  never  did  1  iiear 
him  make  such  a  prayer.  One  might  have  supposed  that  he  had 
forgotten  that  he  was  in  a  judpif,  and  that  he  thought  he  was  in 
his  own  private  closet,  so  much  of  his  prayer  was  in  reference  to 
himself — "that  God  would  remember  his  ar/ed  servant" — 
"  that  he  would  put  underneath  him  his  sustaining  hand,  and 
not  forsake  him  in  his  old  age."  But  it  was  this  peculiarity 
of  it,  that  gave  it  much  of  its  power. 

"Thus  ended  the  long,  laborious,  and  eventful  public  life  of 
this  great  and  good  man.  And  w^hat  an  ending  I  How  befit- 
ting the  holy  otHce  to  which  it  had  been  consecrated,  that  he 
who  had  so  long  ministered  the  consolations  of  the  gospel  to 
others,  should  close  his  ministry  with  such  an  unequivocal  ex- 
hibition of  their  efficacy  in  his  own  case — that  the  "  blessed 
hope"  which  he  had  preached  to  us,  was  now  the  ''anchor"  of 
his  own  soul,  ''inexpressibly  delightful." 

"With  the  tears  still  in  our  eyes,  because  of  what  he  had 
"thus  spoken"  to  us,  we  bade  him  farewell,  "sorrowing  most  of 
all"  from  the  painful  presentiment  we  then  had,  that  we  "  should 
see  his  face  no  more."     Yours,  most  fraternally,  G.  E." 

On  the  80th  of  August  Dr.  Miller  wrote, 

'My  own  health  has  been  very  feeble  for  the  last  fortnight. 
My  apprehension  is,  that  I  am  slowly  losing  ground.  God 
bless  you,  my  dear  son  !  Let  our  eyes  and  our  hearts  be  more 
and  more  directed  to  that  blessed  home,  where,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  we  may  all  be  gathered ;  and  where  there  will  be  no  more 
suffering,  and,  above  all,  no  more  sin.' 

8.     Last  Labours  Abroad  and  at  Home. 

The  following  extract  is  from  the  minutes  of  the  l^oard 
of  Directors  of  the  Seminary,  convened  on  the  10th  of 
September : 

*  The  Board  of  Directors  having  been  informed  by  the  Trea- 
surer of  the  Board  of  Trustees  that  the  Kov.  Dr.  Miller  has 
expressed  his  intention  of  relinquishing  one-half  part  of  his 
salary,  do  unanimously,  respectAdly,  and  affectionately  request 
the  venerable  Professor  to  recall  the  .said  purpose,  and  to  con- 
tinue to  receive  his  full  salary  as  heretofore,  agreciibly  to  the 
resolution  of  the  last  General  Assembly. 


526  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  8. 

*  Dr.  Janeway,  Dr.  Boardman,  Dr.  Plumer,  and  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell were  appointed  a  Committee  to  present  to  Dr.  Miller 
the  above  request  of  the  Board. 

*  The  committee  appointed  to  wait  on  Dr.  Miller  made  the 
following  report,  which  was  approved  ;  viz. — That,  in  an  inter- 
view with  him,  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  Board  was  read 
to  him  ;  on  which  he  expressed  his  high  and  grateful  sense  of 
the  honorable  manner  in  w^hich  he  had  been  treated  by  the 
General  Assembly  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  considered  that 
he  had  a  part  to  act  in  reference  to  what  might  hereafter  occur, 
and  had  made  up  his  mind  to  return  the  one-half  of  his  salary 
to  the  treasury  of  the  Seminary.  On  which  statement,  the 
venerable  Professor  was  assured,  that  the  action  of  the  General 
Assembly  had,  they  believed,  met  with  the  hearty  approbation 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  that  he  had  full  right  to  dispose 
of  his  salary  in  what  manner  he  pleased ;  and  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  Board  to  go  forward  and  adopt  means  for  supply- 
ing the  Treasury  with  funds,  for  the  support  of  the  new  Pro- 
fessor, and  thus  carry  the  views  of  the  General  Assembly  into 
full  effect.' 

When  the  session  of  the  Theological  Seminary  recom- 
menced in  August,  Dr.  Miller  determined  to  continue,  his 
strength  permitting,  some  small  part  of  his  accustomed 
labors.  That  ardor  in  toil,  which  had  always  distinguished 
him,  was  not  yet  quenched  ;  and  his  eager  desire  to  be  still 
of  some  service  to  the  Church  and  to  the  Seminary,  both 
so  long  loved  and  striven  for,  was  seconded  b}^  his  nearest 
and  best  friends,  who  perhaps  did  not  realize  the  actual 
failure  of  his  strength,  and  wisely  regarded  continued 
exertion,  not  too  severe  or  prolonged,  as  likely  to  maintain 
his  activity,  both  bodily  and  mental,  and  to  lengthen  out 
his  life.  He  accordingly  commenced  a  course  of  lectures 
to  the  Senior  class,  to  be  delivered  twice  a  week,  and  was 
able  to  continue  them  for  a  few  weeks,  sometimes  walking 
to  the  seminary — a  quarter  of  a  mile  off — sometimes  being 
driven  in  his  carriage  thither.  It  was  with  manifestly 
great  reluctance,  that,  yielding  at  last,  with  the  steady 
waning  of  his  strength,  to  evident  necessity,  he  gave  up 
the  effort. 

While  Dr.  Miller  was  thus  performing  his  last  work  in 
the  Seminary,  he  received  his  last  earthly  call  to  a  new 
field  of  labor.  A  feeble  missionary  church,  at  the  far  South, 
hearing  of  his  resignation,  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Missions, 


1849.]  LAST    LABOURS    ABROAD    AND    AT    HOME.  527 

suggesting  that  the  liglit  services  wliicli  they  neede.l,  and 
their  mihl  salubrious  climate  would  just  .suit  his  declining 
health  and  strength ;  and  inquiring  whether  he  might  not 
respond  favorably  to  a  call.  Those  about  him  smiled  at 
the  idea;  but  the  proposition  was  kindly  intended.  Ifow 
could  those  afar  off,  and  with  but  a  little  niforniaiion,  know- 
how  near  he  was  to  the  close  of  his  ministry  on  earth  "" 

About  this  time,  he  expressed  an  earnest  desire  that,  if 
possible,  his  children  and  grand-children  should  assemble 
once  more  under  his  roof,  that  he  might  give  them,  all 
together,  his  last  counsels  and  his  blessing.  He  had,  besides, 
another  object  in  view.  His  son  Dickinson,  a  Surgeon  in 
the  Navy,  had  lately  returned  from  a  long  cruise,  and  his 
son  John  from  a  tour  in  Europe.  Both  had  been  exposed, 
in  different  parts,  to  the  dangers  of  war  and  pestilence — 
dangers  sufficient,  at  least,  to  have  made  those  feel  anxious 
who  were  enjoying  the  comforts  and  comparative  security 
of  home.  To  offer  united  thanks  for  the  merciful  preser- 
vation and  safe  return  of  these  two  sons,  was,  to  his  mind, 
a  strong  additional  reason  for  a  family  reunion.  The  -n(l 
of  November  witnessed  this  last  solemn  gathering  of  parents 
and  children.  Two  grand-children,  who,  at  the  time,  were 
in  distant  parts  of  the  country,  were  alone  unable  to  be 
present.  To  all  assembled,  it  was  a  most  interesting  and 
impressive  occasion.  After  a  welcome  once  more  at  the 
familiar  board,  all  were  brought  together  in  the  "  front 
parlor" — the  scene  of  so  many  simple,  hai)py  gatherings 
in  former  days  ;  where,  to  the  children,  their  parents  ha<l 
always  seemed  to  be  present,  looking  down  upon  them  from 
two  striking  life  size  portraits,  ever  the  chief  ornament  of 
the  ample  walls.  Here,  with  much  thanksgiving  and  sup- 
plication, careful  to  devote  his  residue  of  strength  to  that, 
and  that  only,  which  was  of  special  importance,  the  father, 
as  if  ready  to  depart,  uttered  many  .earnest,  long-to-be- 
remembered  words  of  counsel  and  exhortation.  Like  the 
ancient  leader  of  Israel,  he  brought  to  remembrance  the 
way  in  which  the  Lord  God  had  led  the  whole  family, 
parents,  and  children,  for  long  years  ;  the  mercies,  both 
temporal  and  spiritual,  which  every  one,  from  infancy  up, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  had  experienced;  and  he  urged 
upon  all  to  make  this  God  their  God  even  unto  death.     He 


528  LABOUR   AND    SORROW.  [CH.  42.  8. 

referred  to  one  important  point  in  the  disposition  he  had 
made  of  his  little  property — the  whole,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  comparatively  trifling,  special  legacies,  his  beloved 
wife  was  to  have  her  life  long;  and  with  the  mention  of 
this,  he  introduced  a  most  earnest  appeal  to  every  child  and 
grand-child,  to  study,  and  by  all  means  promote,  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  her  declining  years.  Then  he  spoke  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church — the  church  of  his  youth,  and 
manhood,  and  old  age  ;  the  church  of  his  choice  and  his 
delight ;  the  church  in  the  doctrines  and  order  of  which,  as 
of  all  the  most  scriptural  and  edifying,  he  had  grown  more 
and  more  confident,  the  longer  he  had  lived  and  ministered 
within  its  pale ;  and  their  birth-right  in  which  he  regarded 
as  the  most  precious  external  inheritance  of  his  chihlren  ; 
and  he  pressed  it  upon  them,  that  they  should  never  be 
persuaded  to  forsake  the  church  of  their  fathers.  He 
urged  that  each  one's  birth-day  should  be  observed  by  that 
one  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  These,  with  other 
counsels,  fulfilled  the  intention  with  which  he  had  assembled 
the  family,  and  almost  completed  his  efforts  for  the  good  of 
others.  His  strength  was  afterwards  sufficient  for  very 
little  exertion.  Yet,  till  within  a  few  days  of  his  death,  he 
assembled  the  family  around  his  couch  for  worship,  and 
offered  a  few  words  of  prayer,  morning  and  evening ; 
though  the  service  was  often  rendered  painful,  or  even 
interrupted,  by  the  exhaustion  of  his  strength. 

A  few  days  after  this  family  interview,  he  dictated  the 
following  letter  to  a  committee  of  the  Alumni  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  who,  having  postponed  their 
celebration,  already  referred  to,  from  July  to  November, 
on  account  of  an  epidemic  prevailing  in  Philadelphia,  had 
renewed  their  invitation. 

c  n     ^1  '  Princeton,  November  5th,  1849. 

'  (jrentlemen,  '  ' 

*  I  received  your  letter  of  October  30th,  inviting  me  to  attend 

the   address   of  Wm.   B.  Reed,  Esquire,  to  the  Alumni  of  the 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  evening  of  the  13th  inst., 

and    the   Centenary   Dinner  of    the   graduates   on   the    next 

evening.     These   occasions   are   both   so   attractive,   that   the 

thought  of  declining  an  attendance  on  them  gives  me  pain. 

Mr.  Reed  is  one  of  those  orators  of  whom  I  think  it  may  be 

said,  "  Nil  tetigit  quod  non  ornavit."     I  shall  expect  an  ad- 


1849.]    LAST  LABOURS  ABROAD  AND  AT  HOME.      520 

dress  from  him  to  be  replete  with  entertainment  and  inst mo- 
tion ;  and  with  respect  to  the  Centenary  J'V'stival,of  wliicli  you 
speak,  I  know  of  few  things  that  wouhl  give  me  more  heartfelt 
pleasure  than  meeting  my  beloved  fellow  Alumni,  and  espe- 
cially invoking  the  blessing  of  Heaven  on  tliem  and  their  Ahiia 
Mater. 

'  But  it  is  entirely  out  of  the  question.  At  the  age  of  more 
than  eighty  years,  I  find  myself  so  feeble — so  nervous,  and  so 
unfit  to  appear  in  public  and  festive  assemblies,  especially  at 
night,  that  I  must  at  once  deny  myself  the  j)leasure  of  attend- 
ing on  the  occasion  to  which  you  so  kindly  invite  me.  May 
the  best  blessings  of  heaven  rest  upon  you  all !  May  the  ex- 
pected exercises  prove  as  richly  delightful  and  useful  as  the 
best  wishes  of  the  warmest  friends  of  our  Alma  Mater  (tould 
desire.  I  am,  gentlemen,  with  cordial  respect,  your  fellow 
Alumnus,  JSamuel  Miller. 

'  P.  S. — You  will  perceive  that  I  employ  the  pen  «jf  another 
in  this  communication.  My  own  right  hand  is  beginning  to 
"  forget  her  cunning." ' 

In  one  of  his  letters  Dr.  Miller  sent  the  following  toast : — 

''Education. — The  highest  and  best  possible  to  every  member 
of  the  community ;  but  education  ever  adorned  and  sanctified 
by  true  religion,  which  alone  can  make  it  a  safe  pledge  of 
virtue,  order,  social  strength,  and  genuine  freedom.'' 

At  the  dinner,  the  following  was  offered : — 

"  The  oldest  living  graduate — Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  of  Prince- 
ton. — A  model  for  imitation  to  his  younger  brethren,  proving 
by  his  life  and  conversation  that  gray  hairs  are  a  crown  of 
glory,  when  found  in  the  patlis  of  rectitude." 


/ 


CHAPTER  FORTY- THIRD. 

THE     LAST     OF     EARTH. 

1849,  1850. 


1.    Nunc  Dimittis. 

The  very  interesting  account  which  follows,  of  an  inter- 
view with  Dr.  Miller,  was  prepared  for  Dr.  Sprague's 
Annals^  by  the  late  widely  known  and  deeply  lamented 
Nicholas  Murray,  D.D. 

"Among  the  most  polished,  popular,  and  learned  ministers 
that  have  adorned  the  American  Church,  was  the  Rev.  Dr, 
Samuel  Miller.  In  stature  of  the  medium  size,  formed  with 
remarkable  symmetry,  with  mild  blue  eye,  bald  head,  high 
forehead,  and  a  countenance  remarkably  bland  and  prepossess- 
ing, he  immediately  commanded  the  respect  of  all  wdth  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  His  politeness  was  such  as  to  gain  for 
him  the  American  sobriquet  of  the  American  Chesterfield ;  his 
affability  was  such  as  to  attract  even  the  fondling  attention  of 
children ;  so  ready  was  he  in  conversation,  and  so  full  of  anec- 
dote, as  to  make  him  the  attractive  centre  of  every  circle  which 
he  graced  with  his  presence ;  and  so  wise  and  prudent  was  he 
withal,  that  his  advice  and  counsels  were  sought  by  his  brethren 
and  by  the  churches  as  if  he  were  an  oracle.  In  his  youth  he 
was  greatly  popular  as  a  preacher,  and  down  to  the  close  of  his 
long  life  was  remarkably  solemn  and  instructive.  Thoroughly 
evangelical  and  devotedly  pious,  his  ministrations  were  sought 
beyond  those  of  almost  any  of  his  contemporaries.     He  was  a 

^  III  Vol.,  610.  It  is  here  given,  as  somewhat  modified,  chiefly  in  the  first 
paragraph,  and  published  in  Dr.  Murray's  "  Parish  Pencillings."  The  para- 
graph mentioned  contains  in  the  original  draft,  the  following  :— "  I  shall  limit 
myself  to  an  account  of  an  interview  that  I  had  with  him  a  short  time  before 
his  death — an  interview  rendered  memorable  to  me  not  only  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  last,  but  from  its  having  witnessed  to  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ex- 
hibitions of  the  very  sublimity  of  Christian  triumph,  that  have  ever  come 
within  my  knowledge." 

530 


1849.]  NUNC    DIMITTIS.  .  531 

man  of  varied  learning,  of  retentive  memorv;  was  a  i^nieeful, 
easy,  and  polished  writer,  and,  to  as  great  an'  extent  as  almost 
any  man  of  his  day,  enjoyed  both  an  American  and  lOuropcan 
reputation.  He  was  a  voluminous  author,  an  al)le  controver- 
tist,  a  fine  ecclesiastical  historian,  and  an  able  and  l)eh)ved 
professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  from  its 
foundation  to  the  close  of  his  long  and  brilliant  life.  Ditrnified 
without  haughtiness,  condescending  without  descending,  alliible 
■without  garrulity,  polite  without  the  cold  correctness  which 
chills,  firm  in  his  opinions  without  bigotry,  catholic  without  an 
approach  to  latitudinarianism,  and  remarkably  generous  in  all 
his  sympathies,  he  made  even  his  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with 
him,  and  embalmed  his  memory  in  the  hearts  of  all  good  men  ; 
and  the  hundreds  of  students  that  enjoyed  his  instructions  as  a 
professor,  while  they  reverenced  him  as  a  teacher,  loved  him 
as  a  father. 

"The  Historical  Society  of  New  Jereey  met  at  Princeton, 
now  a  place  of  patriotic,  and  classic,  and  sacred  associations. 
It  was  a  noble  gathering  of  men,  distinguished  in  their  various 
professions  as  jurists,  advocates,  professors,  and  divines;  and 
there  was  a  most  cordial  greeting  and  commingling  of  these 
historic  associates.  All  difierences  in  sentiments,  jirofessions,  and 
politics  were  laid  aside  while  in  the  pursuit  of  the  one  common 
object  of  honoring  New  Jersey  by  collecting  materials  for  its 
history,  and  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  names  of  her  many 
heroic  and  distinguished  sons. 

"But  one  was  absent  who  had  rarely  been  absent  before, 
and  who  was  one  of  the  founders  and  vice-presidents  of  the 
society;  one  whose  bland  and  polished  manners  always  attracte<l 
regard,  and  whose  venerable  aspect  always  deeply  impressed. 
His  absence  from  the  meeting,  and  in  the  town  of  his  residence, 
excited  inquiry;  and  when  it  was  announced  that  Dr.  Miller 
was  very  seriously  sick,  there  was  in  the  meeting  a  deep  ex- 
pression of  sorrow  and  sympathy.  It  was  solemnly  lelt  by  all 
that  in  those  historic  gatherings  we  should  see  his  face  no  more. 

"  His  son  conveyed  to  me  a  message  from  his  father  that  he 
would  like  to  see  me  on  the  morning  of, the  next  day,  if  conve- 
nient. The  hour  of  our  interview  was  fixed  ;  and,  as  other 
engagements  required  punctuality,  I  was  there  at  the  moment. 

"  But,  as  the  barber  had  just  entered  the  room,  lu-  wa.-*  not 
quite  ready  to  see  me,  and  he  sent  requesting  me  to  wait  halt 
an  hour.  This  my  other  engagements  absolutely  forbade;  and 
on  sending  him  word  to  that'  effect,  he  invited  me  to  his  room. 
As  I  entered  it,  the  picture  which  presented  itself  was  truly  im- 
pressive.    The  room  was  his  library,  where  he  had  of^en  coun- 


532  THE   LAST   OF   EARTH.  [CH.  43.  1. 

seled,  cheered,  and  instructed  me.  There,  bolstered  in  a  chair, 
feeble,  wan,  and  haggard,  was  my  former  teacher  and  friend, 
one-half  of  his  face  shaven,  with  the  soap  on  the  other  half, 
and  the  barber  standing  behind  his  chair.  The  old  sweet 
smile  of  welcome  played  upon  his  face,  and  having  received 
his  kind  hand  and  greetings,  he  requested  me  to  take  a  seat  by 
his  side.  His  message  was  a  brief  one ;  he  had  written  a  his- 
tory of  the  Theological  Seminary  for  the  Historical  Society 
which  was  not  yet  printed,  and  he  wished  an  unimportant  error 
into  which  he  thought  he  had  fallen  to  be  corrected ;  and  that 
there  might  be  no  mistake,  he  wished  me  to  write  it  down,  thus 
showing  his  ruling  passion  for  even  verbal  accuracy.  When 
his  object  in  sending  for  me  was  gained,  he  then,  in  a  most  com- 
posed and  intensely  solemn  manner,  thus  addressed  me  : 

"  "  My  dear  brother,  my  sands  are  almost  run,  and  this  will 
be,  probably,  our  last  interview  on  earth.  Our  intercourse,  as 
professor  and  pupil,  and  as  ministers,  has  been  one  of  undimin- 
ished affection  and  confidence.  I  am  just  finishing  my  course  ; 
and  my  only  regrets  are  that  I  have  not  served  my  precious 
Master  more  fervently,  sincerely,  and  constantly.  Were  I  to 
live  my  life  over  again,  I  would  seek  more  than  I  have  done  to 
know  nothing  but  Christ.  The  burdens  that  some  of  us  have 
borne  in  the  Church  will  now  devolve  upon  you  and  your 
brethren ;  see  to  it  that  you  bear  them  better  than  we  have 
done,  and  with  far  greater  consecration ;  and  as  this  will,  no 
doubt,  be  our  last  interview  here,  it  will  be  well  to  close  it  with 
prayer.  As  I  am  too  feeble  to  kneel,  you  will  excuse  me  if  I 
keep  my  chair." 

"  1  drew  my  chair  before  him,  and  knelt  at  his  feet.  The  col- 
ored barber  laid  aside  his  razor  and  brush,  and  knelt  by  his  side. 
As  he  did  not  indicate  which  of  us  was  to  lead  in  prayer,  I  in- 
ferred, because  of  his  feebleness,  that  it  would  be  right  for  me 
to  do  so ;  and  while  seeking  to  compose  my  own  mind  and  feel- 
ings to  the  eflfort,  I  was  relieved  by  hearing  his  own  sweet,  fee- 
ble, melting  accents.  His  prayer  was  brief,  but  unutterably 
touching  and  impressive.  He  commenced  it  by  thanksgiving 
to  God  for  his  great  mercy  in  calling  us  into  the  fellowship  of 
the  saints,  and  then  calling  us  into  the  ministry  of  his  Son.  He 
then  gave  thanks  that  we  ever  sustained  to  one  another  the  re- 
lation of  pupil  and  teacher,  and  for  our  subsequent  pleasant 
intercourse  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  He  thanked  God  for 
the  many  years  through  which  he  had  permitted  him  to  live,  and 
for  any  good  which  he  had  enabled  him  to  do.  "  And  now, 
Lord,"  said  he,  "seeing  that  thine  aged,  imperfect  servant 
is  about  being  gathered  to  his  fathers,  let  his  mantle  fall  upon 


18-19-]  L'NC    DIMITTIS.  533 

thy  young  servant,  and  far  more  of  the  Spirit  of  Ohrint  than  ho 
has  ever  enjoyed.  Let  the  years  of  tliy  servant  he  as  thcycarH 
of  his  dying  teacher  ;  let  his  ministry  he  more  (h'voted,  more  holy, 
more  useful ;  and  when  he  comes  to  die,  may  he  have  fewer  re- 
grets to  make  in  reference  to  his  closing  ministrations.  Wo  are 
to  meet  no  more  on  earth  ;  but  when  thy  servant  shall  ioUow 
his  aged  father  to  the  grave,  may  we  meet  in  heaven,  there  to 
sit,  and  shine,  and  sing  with  those  who  have  turned  nmnv  to 
righteousness,  who  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.     Amen." 

"  I  arose  from  my  knees,  melted  as  is  wax  before  the  fire. 
My  full  heart  sealed  my  lips.  Through  my  flowing  tears  I 
took  my  last  look  of  my  beloved  teacher,  the  counselor  of  my 
early  ministry,  the  friend  of  my  ripening  years,  and  one  of  the 
most  lovely  and  loved  ministers  with  which  Ciod  has  -ever 
blessed  the  Church.  Everything  impressed  me  ;  the  library, 
his  position,  the  barber ;  his  visage,  once  full  and  fresh,  now 
sallow  and  sunken  ;  his  great  feebleness,  his  faith lulnefJs,  his 
address,  and  above  all,  that  prayer,  never,  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten !  He  extended  his  emaciated  hand  from  under  the  white 
cloth  that  draped  from  his  breast  to  his  knees,  and,  taking 
mine,  he  gave  me  his  parting,  his  last  benediction.  That  ad- 
dress— that  prayer — that  blessing,  have  made  enduring  impres- 
sions. It  was  the  most  solemn  and  instructive  last  interview  of 
my  life. 

"  When  I  next  saw  him  he  was  sleeping  in  his  coffin  in  the 
front  parlor  of  his  house,  where  he  often,  with  distinguished 
urbanity  and  hospitality,  entertained,  instructed  and  delighted 
his  friends.  That  parlor  was  crowded  by  distinguished  stran- 
gers, and  by  many  of  his  former  pupils,  who  mourned  for  him 
as  for  a  father — for  a  fiither  he  was  to  them  all.  And  as  they 
passed  around  to  take  a  parting  sight  of  his  countenance,  from 
which  even  death  could  not  remove  its  accustomed  placid,  be- 
nevolent smile,  their  every  bosom  heaved  with  intense  emotion, 
their  eyes  were  suffused  with  tears ;  and  could  every  tongue  ut- 
ter the  emotion  of  their  hearts,  it  would  be  in  the  language  of 
Elisha  when  he  gazed  on  Elijah  asending  before  him  unto 
heaven,  *•  My  father,  my  father,  the  chariot  of  Israel,  and  the 
horsemen  thereof" 

"His  death  was  as  calm  and  triumjthant  as  his  lit'.-  was  pure, 
disinterested  and  lovely  ;  and  as  pious  men  carried  him  to  his 
burial,  and  as  we  covered  up  his  remains  under  the  clods  of  the 
valley',  the  prayer  arose  at  least  from  one  heart,  "  May  I  live 
the  life  of  this  righteous  man,  and  let  my  la^t  end  be  like 
his." 


534  THE    LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.  1. 

"  There  are  many  scenes  in  the  life  of  Dr.  Miller  that  mem- 
ory frequently  recalls — scenes  in  the  class-room,  in  the  General 
Assembly,  in  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the 
social  party — scenes  which  occurred  during  the  conflicts  of  par- 
ties, and  in  the  frank  and  unrestrained  intercourse  of  social 
life.  In  them  all  Dr.  Miller  was  pre-eminently  like  himself. 
But  the  scene  by  which  I  most  love  to  recall  him,  and  which 
memory  most  frequently  recalls,  is  that  parting  scene  in  his 
study.     Oh,  may  that  parting  prayer  be  answered  1" 

Dr.  James  W.  Alexander  was  elected  Professor  of  Ec- 
clesiastical History  and  Church  Government,  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1849,  but  was  not  inaugurated  until  the 
20th  of  November  following.  On  the  14th  of  that  month, 
he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Hall, 

"  This  morning  Dr.  Miller  sent  for  me,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  did  not  rise  when  I  entered.  He  then  formally  made 
over  to  me  the  charge  of  the  instruction,  and  said,  inter  alia  : 
"No,  sir,  my  time  is  come.  I  must  go  to  the  grave;  no  skill 
of  man  can  do  me  any  good."  He  no  longer  drives  out. 
Every  expression  connects  itself  with  his  departure.  In  all  my 
life  I  never  saw  a  gentler  decline,  or  a  more  serene,  collected, 
looking  into  eternity."^ 

Dr.  Miller  was  too  feeble  to  be  present  at  his  successor's 
inauguration,  who,  in  the  opening  of  his  discourse  remarked, 

"  I  should  meet  you  with  less  of  sadness,  were  it  not  for  the 
absence  of  that  venerable  man,  whose  induction  to  this  chair  I 
distinctly  remember  six-and-thirty  years  ago,  whose  paternal 
guidance  many  of  us  have  since  enjoyed,  and  whose  useful  and 
eminent  discharge  of  this  function  might  well  cause  trembling 
in  his  successor.  Let  us  therefore,  hasten  to  look  away  from 
men,  even  the  best,  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  who  will 
bless  both  his  aged  servant  and  this  school  to  which  his  life  has 
been  devoted."^ 

The  following  are  the  closing  paragraphs  of  the  reminis- 
cences kindly  furnished  by  Dr.  Sprague,  the  other  portion 
of  which  has  been  given  on  previous  pages. 

*My  last  interview  with  him  impressed  itself  upon  my  in- 
most soul.  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  inauguration  of  Dr.  James 
W.  Alexander,  as  his  successor  in  the  Professorship.  It  was 
understood  that  he  was  extremely  feeble,  and  the  current  of 
life  was  fast  ebbing  away.     I  called  at  his  house,  uncertain 

1  2  Familiar  Letters,  108,  109. 
a  P.  69. 


1849.]  NUNC   DIMITTIS.  535 

whether  he  woukl  l)e  able  to  see  ine,  but  wishinir  at  h-ast  to 
learn  the  particulars  of  his  situation  from  his  own  fanuly.  I 
was  glad  to  find  that  I  could  be  admitted  once  more  to  see  my 
venerable  friend.  He  was  in  his  study,  where  1  had  met  him 
a  hundred  times  in  the  vigor  of  health.  He  sat  in  a  large  arm 
chair,  breathing  with  so  much  difficulty,  that  1  should  scarcely 
have  been  surprised  if  his  breath  ha<l  left  him  at  anv  moment. 
He  extended  his  hand  to  me  with  the  same  genial  warmth  of 
feeling  as  when  he  was  in  health.  He  told  me  that  his  course 
was  nearly  finished,  and  that  he  was  ju!?t  going  to  that  blessed 
Master  whom  he  had  served  so  imi)erfectly,  but  who  had  loved 
and  blessed  him  so  much.  He  occupied  nearly  every  moment 
that  I  was  with  him  in  talking,  and  scarcely  spoke  of  anything 
but  the  preciousness  of  his  Redeemer.  I  never  witnessed  an 
instance  of  more  triumphant  faith.  It  really  seemed  as  if  the 
chariot  was  making  ready,  to  bear  him  away  on  his  upward 
journey.  I  shook  hands  with  him  for  the  last  time;  and 
though  I  heard  afterwards  that  he  was  still  lingering  in  triumph, 
it  was  not  long  before  the  tidings  came  that  both  his  sullering 
and  his  triumph  on  earth  had  given  place  to  the  immortal 
triumph  of  heaven. 

'It  did  not  occur  to  me,  when  I  undertook  to  write  a  letter 
of  personal  recollections,^  how  prominently  I  should  be  obliged 
to  exhibit  myself ;  but  as  I  could  not  very  well  write  suck  a 
letter,  keeping  myself  entirely  in  the  back  ground,  I  hope  to 
escape  the  imputation  of  egotism,  where,  under  other  circum- 
stances, I  feel  that  I  should  be  justly  liable  to  it. 

*I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

'Faithfullv  vours, 

*  W.  13.  Sprague.' 

A  passage  may  be  added,  without  much  repetition,  from 
Dr.  Sprague's  Commemorative  Discourse." 

"His  whole  appearance  was  a  compound  of  the  deep  solem- 
nity that  becomes  the  dying  man,  and  the  joyful  tranquility 
that  becomes  the  dying  Christian.  He  had  no  breath  to  waste 
on  mere  worldly  matters,  but  began  immediately  to  talk  of  the 
goodness  of  the  Master  whom  he  had  served  ;  of  the  great  im- 
perfection of  the  service  he  had  rendered  ;  and  of  the  glorious 
eternal  home,  which,  througii  grace,  he  was  about  to  enter.  It 
is  my  sober  conviction,  that  I  never  heard  such  words  from  the 
lips  of  mortal  man  ;  and  yet  his  spirit  seemed  struggling  with 
thoughts  and  feelings  which  he  had  no  words  to  express.  When 
I  intimated  a  wish  that,  if  it  were  God's  will,    he  might   be 

1  For  the  former  part  of  this  letter,  soc  pp.  2U-CG. 

2  Pp.  37,  3S. 


536  THE    LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.  1. 

spared  to  us  yet  a  little  longer,  he  replied,  "  I  am  not  conscious 
of  having  any  wish  on  that  subject,  I  think  I  can  say,  '  Blessed 
Master,  when  thou  wilt,  where  thou  wilt,  as  thou  wilt.' "  I  came 
away  convinced  that  I  had  been  listening  to  a  dying  man;  and 
yet  such  an  impression  had  he  left  upon  me,  that  I  could  not 
think  of  him  in  connection  with  the  grave,  but  only  with  the 
glorious  world  beyond  it.  Several  others  who  saw  him  about 
the  same  time,  have  assured  me  that  his  chamber  seemed 
to  them  like  a  consecrated  place,  "quite  on  the  verge  of 
heaven."  The  venerable  Dr.  Janeway,  who  had  been  his  inti- 
mate friend  almost  from  early  life,  told  me  that,  in  a  brief  but 
most  solemn  interview  which  he  had  had  with  him  shortly  be- 
fore his  death,  Dr.  Miller  requested,  before  they  parted,  that 
he  would  kneel  down  by  his  side,  that  they  might  once  more 
join  their  supplications  at  the  throne  of  grace;  and  when  he 
had  knelt,  and  was  just  about  to  commence  the  prayer,  his 
revered  friend,  with  what  seemed  almost  literally  dying  breath, 
led  off  in  the  exercise  with  the  utmost  appropriateness,  tender- 
ness and  fervour.  These  incidents,  it  is  understood,  were  but 
a  specimen  of  what  was  constantly  occurring  during  his  last 
weeks ;  and  when  I  have  said,  that  his  sun  went  down,  not  only 
without  a  cloud,  but  in  full  orbed  glory,  I  have  given  you  an 
epitome  of  the  history  of  his  departure." 

In  December,  Dr.  Alexander  again  wrote  to  Dr.  Hall, 
"  Dr.  Miller  has  declined  very  gradually  even  till  now.  His 
greeting  to  my  brother  Samuel  was,  "Almost  home."  Take  it 
altogether  I  never  knew  such  a  euthanasy.  All  the  decorum 
of  his  long  life  kept  up  "  duntaxat  ad  imum."  Never  one  in- 
trusion of  doubt.  Heaven  has  seemed  just  as  much  ajar,  as 
his  next  door  bed-room.  Still  in  his  study,  among  his  life-long 
things,  and  still  in  a  sort  of  chair,  not  bed.  It  is  not  four  days 
since  he  ceased  going  to  the  table.  He  forbids  prayer  for  re- 
covery ;  longs  to  depart :  has  not  seemed  to  have  any  anxiety 
but  about  the  church,  for  a  long  time.  Often  has  wept,  more 
than  of  old,  on  spiritual  matters.  Greatly  revived  at  hearing 
of  conversions,  etc."^ 

His  grand-daughter,  Margaret  Breckinridge,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Dr.  Miller's  household  during  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  last  three  years  of  his  life.  She  read  much  to  him, 
and  usually  accompanied  him  on  his  drives  for  exercise. 
She  said  that,  when  listening  to  Paul's  Epistles,  he  often 
expressed  a  strong  desire  to  see  that  apostle ;  that  he  very 
frequently  spoke  of  dying,  as  of  an  event   becoming  con- 

^  2  Familiar  Letters,  110. 


1^-19.]  NUNC   DIMITTIS.  537 

stantly  more  and  more  familiar  to  liis  mind  ;  and  when  she 
closed  the  Sacred  Volume,  or  paused  in  her  reading,  often 
ejaculated,  'Blessed  Gospel  !     Blessed  Gospel  I' 

Dr.  Miller  had  been  unable,  on  account  of  indisposition, 
to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  College  Board  of  Trustees,  on 
the  19th  of  December,  1848  ;  but  we  find  him  present  with 
the  Board  both  in  June  and  in  October,  1849.  It  was  at 
the  latter  date,  doubtless,  that  he  took  that  formal  leave  of 
his  fellow  trustees  mentioned  by  Dr.  Carnahan.'  On  the 
18th  of  December,  he  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the 
Board  : — 

'Reverend  and  Honored  Gentlemen, 

*  Fully  believing  that  there  is  no  probability  of  my 
ever  occupying  my  seat  among  you  again,  *  ^  i  t.\]^^.  i\^[^ 
opportunity  of  tendering  my  resignation  as  a  member  of  the 
Board. 

'When, I  call  to  mind  the  character,  the  labors  and  the  suc- 
cess of  the  illustrious  founders  of  this  institution,  I  cannot  help 
entertaining  the  deepest  veneration  for  their  memory  ;  and  it  is 
my  earnest  hope  and  constant  prayer,  that  men  of  the  same 
stamp  may  continue  to  carry  on  its  interests,  with  growing  suc- 
cess, to  the  end  of  time.  Deeply  persuaded  as  I  am,  that  no 
institution  of  this  kind  can  truly  promote  the  welfare  of  society, 
under  any  pure  or  free  government,  unless  it  be  conducted  on 
the  strictest  principles  of  intellectual  and  moral  discipline,  I 
will  not  disguise  how  deep  my  desire,  on  taking  leave  of  the 
institution,  is,  that  its  management  may  always  be  faithfully 
conducted,  with  a  view  rather  to  the  dignity  and  usefulness  of 
the  college,  than  to  the  increase  of  the  number  of  the  students ; 
and  that  to  this  end  discipline  may  always  be  most  sacredly 
regarded. 

*I  bid  the  College  and  all  its  interests,  and  yourselves,  my 
beloved  and  honored  associates,  the  profoundest  and  most  affec- 
tionate farewell!  Samuel  Miller.' 

This  letter  he  only  dictated  :  it  was  penned  by  one  of 
his  sons,  except  indeed  the  signature  and  outside  super- 
scription, added  with  a  trembling  hand  which  had  indeed 
"  forgotten  her  cunning." 

After  the  comfort  of  survivors  had  been  carefully  provi- 
ded for.  Dr.  ^liller  manifested  very  little  solicitude  about 
anything  which  he  was  to  leave  behind,  or  about  matters 
affecting  his  own  posthumous  reputation.     He  said  that  he 

1  Pp.  376,  377. 
You  II.— 40. 


538  THE    LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.  2. 

believed  all  his  debts  had  been  already  paid  ;  and  such,  af- 
ter his  decease,  was  found  literally  to  be  the  case.  He  gave 
no  directions  in  regard  to  his  funeral  services,  or  burial, 
nor  as  to  his  papers,  excepting  the  request,  in  a  conversa- 
tion with  one  of  his  sons,  that  none  of  his  manuscript  ser- 
mons should  be  published.  It  was,  perhaps,  among  the 
felicities  of  his  life,  that  he  was  able  to  attend  personally 
to  the  publication  of  every  thing  that  he  designed  for  the 
public.  He  had  often  prayed  for  himself  and  others,  that, 
in  the  dying  hour,  they  'might  have  nothing  to  do  but  to 
die;  '  and  the  prayer  was  perceptibly  and  most  mercifully 
answered  in  his  own  experience. 

2.     Death  Bed. 

Dr.  Miller  continued  slow^ly,  but  steadily  to  decline,  un- 
til the  last  of  December,  when  new  and  decisive  symptoms 
made  it  evident  that  he  had  but  a  few  days   to  live.     The 
writer  of  these  memoirs  spent,  with  him,  a  large  part  of  the 
Sabbath,  December    30th.      He  had    noticed,  previously, 
with  pain,  the  drowsiness,  mental  torpor,  and  occasional  in- 
coherent utterances  already  described.     During  the  fore- 
noon, he  remained  with  his   father,  while  the  rest  of  the 
family  went  to  church.     It  had  been  arranged,  that  a  part 
of  the  time  of  the  public  service — as  much  as  the  strength  of 
the  bed  of  languishing  permitted — should  be  spent  in  united 
worship.     The  father's  couch  was  still  in  his  study,  where 
he  reclined  unconsciously  dozing.     An  effort,  which  seemed 
beforehand  almost  hopeless,  was  made,  at  the  proper  mo- 
ment, to  awaken  him  from  this  drowsiness,  and  fix  his  at- 
tention on  the  proposed  devotional  exercises.     Slowly  he 
came  to  himself,  but  once  thoroughly  aroused  and  engaged 
in  worship,  all  his  intellectual  powers  seemed  as  active,  all 
his  emotions  as  vivid,  as  ever.     He   dictated  the   portions 
of  Scripture  which    should  be  read,  listened  to   them  with 
fixed  attention,  engaged,  himself,  audibly  and  with  earnest- 
ness in  prayer  ;  and  for  the  time  appeared  to  be  complete- 
ly and  pleasurably  awake.     With  the  deepest  concern,  he 
spoke  of  the  religious  interests  of  his   children,  and  when 
told  of  something  which,  in  the  case  of  one  of  them,  seemed 
to  promise  spiritual  advantage,  his  feelings  of  delight  and 
thankfulness  appeared  to  overflow.     Altogether,  a  season 


1850.]  DEATH    BED. 


>m 


which  liad  been  anticipated  as  but  at  best  a  painfully  diili- 
cult  attempt  to  AV(U-sliip,  was  one  of  the  most  deli^'htful  and 
impressive  the  writer  has  ever  witnessed. 

On  the  next  Sabbath,  January  Gth,  liis  drowsiness  in- 
creased, and  his  eyes  began  to  wear  a  f^dassv  appearance, 
betokening  the  near  approach  of  death.  Still,  when  aroused* 
he  was  sensible,  and  able  to  answer  coherently.  Witli  the 
anxiety  of  maternal  love,  he  was  asked  to  pray  that  his 
mantle  might  fall  on  one  of  his  sons,  wlio  was  standing  at 
the  bed-side.  The  request  seemed  to  move  him  deej)ly. 
''Oh,  not  mi/  mantle,"  he  said— "not  7711/  mantle!  Let 
him  look  at  such  men  as  Dickinson,  and  Edwards,  and 
Davies — men  who  were  faithful  laborers  in  their  Master's 
vineyard.  Pray  that  their  mantle  may  fall  upon  him." 
He  continued  to  repeat  the  words,  "  Not  7711/  mantle !  Not 
mi/  mantle  !  "  with  intensity  of  feeling,  as  if  all  the  infirmi- 
ties and  defects  of  his  whole  ministry  were  crijwding  upon 
his  consciousness. 

The  next  day  every  unfavorable  symptom  seemed  to  be 
aggravated  ;  and,  as  the  day  advanced,  it  became  almost  im- 
possible to  rouse  him  from  the  stupor,  which  a})peareil  to  be 
every  moment  becoming  more  profound.  Towards  even- 
ing, however.  Dr.  Alexander  was  requested  to  visit  him 
once  more,  and  try  whether  his  strong,  familiar  voice  would 
not  yet  awaken  his  dying  colleague.  lie  came  about  five 
o'clock,  and  approaching  the  bed-side,  asked,  in  liis  piercing 
tones,  "  Do  you  know  me?  "  "  Oh,  yes!  "  replied  Dr.  Mil- 
ler, who  had  been  aroused  as  far  as  possible  for  this  last  in- 
terview. His  voice  was  almost  inarticulate,  yet  the  rei)ly 
not  to  be  mistaken.  In  the  same  way,  he  answered  all  the 
questions  put  to  him — as  to  the  foundation  of  his  hope,  his 
desire  to  depart,  his  view  of  the  fundamental  truths,  which, 
after  he  had  taught  them  for  more  than  threescore  years, 
after  he  had  commended  them  to  many  others,  as  the  most 
precious  consolation  of  a  dying  hour,  were  now  passing  the 
test  of  their  purity  and  excellence  in  the  crucible  of  his  own 
departing  spirit,  agitated  with  the  pangs  of  dissolving  na- 
ture. To  every  inquiry  he  most  intelligently  replied, 
"  Oh,  yes  !  "  "  Oh,  no  !  " — with  emphatic  earnestness  throw- 
ing all  the  residue  of  his  strength  into  the  half  smothered 
words.  Said  Dr.  Alexander  at  length,  havin;^  offered  a 
short  prayer,  and  being  about  to  take  leave,  "\ou  arc  now 


540  THE    LAST    OF   EARTH.  [CH.  43.  2. 

in  the  dark  valley!  "  "Oh  yes  !  "  was  the  only  reply.  ^•I 
shall  soon  be  after  you  !  "  Thus  parted  for  a  little  time,^ 
at  the  brink  of  the  river,  these  veteran  soldiers  of  the  cross. 

After  this  visit,  Dr.  Miller  sank,  almost  at  once,  into  his 
former  deep  lethargy,  and  lived  only  about  six  hours.  He 
did  not  speak  again,  although,  once  or  twice,  when  some- 
thing was  said  to  him  he  opened  his  eyes,  and  looked  upon 
those  about  his  bed.  Apparently,  he  did  not  sufifer  much  ; 
yet  there  was  a  perceptible  dying  strife.  Just  at  eleven 
o'clock  that  night,  he  rested  from  his  last  struggling  breath 
and  all  his  labors. 

A  notice  or  two  of  his  latest  hours,  from  other  pens,  will 
here  be  subjoined.  The  day  after  his  death,  Dr.  J.  W. 
Alexander  wrote, 

"  When  I  heard  last  night,  Dr.  Miller  was  almost  gone,  like 
a  sleeping  child,  but  knew  my  father.  One  of  the  boys  came 
in  as  I  had  penned  this,  to  say  that  Dr.  Miller  died  last  night 
about  11,  a  few  hours  after  my  father  saw  him;  without  any 
struggle,  oppresion,  or  seeming  pain.  The  funeral  is  to  be 
from  the  church,  on  Thursday,  (January  10,)  at  2  o'clock.  It 
has  been  a  great  comfort  to  the  Doctor  to  have  his  medical  son 
with  him  so  many  weeks.  The  Doctor  was  in  his  81st  year. 
Of  all  the  deaths  I  ever  knew,  this  is  the  most  surrounded  by 
all  the  things  one  could  desire."^ 

The  following  passage  is  from  the  same  pen.^ 

"  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  inviolable  sacredness  of 
fraternal  regard  which  for  nearly  forty  years  subsisted  between 
him  and  his  colleague.  During  this  long  period  the  thread  of 
their  lives  had  been  entwined  together,  with  increasing  close- 
ness. They  were  mutual  advisers  and  confidential  friends,  and 
rejoiced  in  each  other's  progress,  happiness  and  acceptance  with 
the  Church.  Their  diflEerences  of  opinion,  which  were  slight 
and  few,  were  matters  for  amicable  repartee,  but  never  caused 
them  even  for  an  hour  to  draw  in  different  directions ;  no  one 
ever  dreamed  of  such  a  thing  as  a  faction  for  one  or  the  other. 
It  was  most  natural,  therefore,  that  Dr.  Alexander  should  look 
with  sadness  upon  the  tokens  of  decline  in  his  respected 
brother.  For  some  months  Dr.  Miller  had  been  subject  to  at- 
tacks of  disease,  and  at  length  w^as  entirely  confined  to  his 
house.     His  decline,  however,  was  denoted  more   by  great  de- 

1  Dr.  Alexander  survived  only  until  the  22d  of  October,  1  -51. 

2  2  Familiar  Letters,  110,  111. 

2  Life  of  Dr.  A.  Alexander,  578,  579. 


1850.]  IN   MEMORIAM.      .  541 

bility  than  by  severe  pain.  Amidst  it  all,  he  \va:=<  calm  and  l)e- 
lieving.  Foreseeing  his  departure  -.vith  an  unerring  eye,  he 
was  resolute  in  his  assertion  of  all  the  truths  Avhich  lie  had 
taught,  and  humbly  confident  in  his  expressions  of  hope  in  Je- 
sus Christ.  Dr.  Alexander  thus  briefly  records  his  decease. 
"Dr.  Miller's  health  had  been  declining  for  several  months. 
He  had  scarcely  any  disease,  except  the  decay  of  old  age,  My 
degrees  he  sunk,  until  the  7th  of  this  month,  when  he  gave  up 
his  spirit  to  God  who  gave  it.  He  was  calm  and  comfortable 
in  mind  during  his  whole  confinement.  He  expressed  no  verv 
lively  feelings,  but  was  troubled  with  no  fears  or  doul)ts.  A 
day  or  two  before  his  death,  I  asked  him  whether  any  dark 
cloud  at  any  time  came  over  his  mind ;  he  replied,  'None  what- 


ever.' " 


3.  In  Memoriam. 


While  the  body  of  tlje  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  of  Princeton,  was 
in  his  late  residence  awaiting  burial,  Dr.  Hodge  remarked 
to  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer,  that  it  was  a  great  thing  to  be  kept 
in  this  world  eighty  years  by  the  grace  of  God.^ 

The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  being  in  session  when 
his  death  was  announced,  put  upon  their  minutes  a  very 
respectful  notice  of  his  character  and  labors,  particularly  of 
his  more  than  thirty-six  years  of  service  in  the  Professor's 
chair. 

The  funeral  took  place  on  Thursday,  the  10th  of  Janu- 
ary. The  following  account  of  it,  from  the  gifted  pen  of 
Irenceus^  now  of  the  New  York  Observer,  was  communi- 
cated, at  the  time,  to  the  Presbyterian. 

"  Princeton,  N.  J.  Jan.  10,  1850. 

"  Me><srs.  Editors — The  remains  of  the  late  venerable  and 
honoured  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  our  Seminary, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  have  just  been  consigned  to  the  tomb. 
The  occasion  has  been  one  of  deep  and  solemn  interest. 

"  The  attendance  of  strangers  from  abroad  was  large,  and 
embraced  many  distinguished  clergymen  and  laymen.  Among 
them  I  observed  the  Hon.  John  Sergeant,  of  I^hiladelphiu,  a 
brother  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Miller;  Hon.  Daniel  Haines,  (rovernor  of 
New  Jersey;  Rev.  Drs.  McDowell,  Jone.*^,  Janeway,  and  others 
of  Philadelphia;  Rev.  Drs.  Phillips,  p:rskine  Mason,  and 
Campbell,  of  New  York  ;  Rev.  Drs.  Magie,  and  Murray,  of 
Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey  ;  Rev.  Drs.  Janeway  and  Cogswell, 

J  N.  Y.  Observer,  (18G2,)  p.  2. 


542  THE   LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.  3. 

and  Rev.  Dr.  Van  YrankiD,  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  Judges  Kirkpatrick,  Nelson, 
and  Terhune,  of  the  same  place,  besides  many  others  whom  I 
have  not  time  to  name. 

"  At  two  o'clock,  P.  M.  the  procession  formed  at  the  late  res- 
idence of  the  Professor,  and  moved  to  the  church.  The  Rev. 
Messrs.  Schenck  and  Duffield  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Patterson  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Corbit  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Princeton,  walked  at  the  head, 
followed  by  tlie  students  of  the  Seminary,  who  with  pious  and 
filial  care  were  the  bearers  of  the  remains  of  their  venerated  in- 
structor. 

After  the  family  and  relatives  of  the  deceased  came  the  Pro- 
fessors, Trustees,  and  Directors,  of  the  Seminary  and  the  Col- 
lege, and  a  long  line  of  clergymen  and  others,  who  had  gathered 
here  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of  grateful  respect  to  one  so  univer- 
sally beloved. 

The  moment  when  the  coffia,  neatly  enclosed  in  black  velvet, 
was  placed  in  the  front  of  the  pulpit,  the  choir  of  the  Seminary 
chaunted  with  solemn  and  appropriate  emphasis  the  words 
"  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord,"  etc.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Jane  way,  of  New  Brunswick,  offered  prayer. 

"  The  Rev.  Archibald  Alexander,  D.D.,  long  the  asso- 
ciate of  Dr.  Miller  in  the  labours  and  the  honours  of  this  seat 
of  learning,  and  now,  as  he  said,  treading  hard  upon  the  heels 
of  his  brother  just  gone  before  him,  delivered  the  funeral  dis- 
course. It  was  just  such  a  discourse  as  those  who  know  Dr. 
Alexander  would  expect  to  hear  from  him  on  such  an  occasion 
as  the  burial  of  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Miller.  He  took  for  his 
text  those  familiar  words  of  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  "  These  all 
died  in  faith  ;" — Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  and  Abraham,  were  the 
men  of  whom  the  words  were  spoken  ;  and  after  the  venera- 
ble preacher  had  with  his  accustomed  simplicity  and  clearness 
exhibited  the  great  characteristics  of  i\\?ii  faith  which  sustained 
the  patriarchs  in  life  and  death,he23roceeded  to  give  a  sketch  of 
the  life  and  an  outline  of  the  character  of  his  colleague.  This 
task  he  discharged  with  great  fidelity,  and  presented  a  por- 
trait of  ministerial  and  religious  excellence  such  as  could  be 
drawn  from  very  few  originals.  He  bore  the  highest  testimony 
to  the  purity  of  his  private  life,  his  deportment  as  a  father,  a 
neighbour,  a  friend,  a  man  of  business  ;  he  spoke  of  him  in  ex- 
alted terms  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  who  loved  to  work  to 
the  very  last,  delighting  to  go  out  into  the  neighbouring  towns 
to  preach  even  up  to  the  time  when  he  was  too  feeble  for  such 
labours ;  as  a  professor  and  a  writer,  he  had  achieved  a  reputa- 


1850.]  IX   MEMORIAM.  543 

tion  as  wide  spread  and  honoured  on  botli  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
as  that  of  any  other  American  divine.  Jkit  the  crowning  glory 
of  his  life  was  his  piety.  This  was  deep  and  unatiected.  *  * 
He  was  free,  open-hearted,  and  j^a^nerous.  lie  gave  more  in 
proportion  to  his  income  for  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions, 
than  any  man  in  the  speaker's  knowledge. 

"  And  now,"  said  Dr.  Alexander,  as  he  came  to  close  his  re- 
marks, "  I  am  reminded  that  I  must  soon  follow  my  departed 
brother  and  friend  to  the  grave.  There  are  many  in  this  great 
assembly  who  will  never  hear  my  voice  again,  and  as  this  is  the 
last  time  I  shall  address  you,  I  have  one  re<pic.st  to  make,  and 
that  is,  that  you  idll  pray  for  me  .'" 

"The  Rev.  Dr.  CARXAirAN,  President  of  the  (V)l lege,  fol- 
lowed with  prayer,  and  after  the  benediction  was  pronounced, 
the  procession  formed  again,  and  marched  to  the  grave  yard — 
the  old  grave  yard — hallowed  by  the  dust  of  many  illustrious 
men  who  died  in  faith  ;  and  there  they  laid  him  to  sleej)^  till  the 
morning  of  a  better  day. 

"At  the  grave  the  Kev.  Joiix  McDowell,  D.D,  of  Phila- 
delphia, delivered  a  brief  and  very  apj)ropriate  address,  in 
which  he  said,  that  Dr.  Miller  was  one  of  the  Presbytery  that 
ordained  him,  and  not  one  of  that  body  now  remains.  Dr. 
Miller  was  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  when  he 
(Dr.  McDowell)  was  elected,  and  not  one,  then  a  member,  now 
survives.  "The  fathers,  where  are  they?  and  the  prophets,  do 
they  live  forever  ?" 

"  Thus  terminated  the  funeral  solemnities  of  a  great  and  good 
man.  He  leaves  behind  him  a  precious  memory,  which  will  be 
cherished  with  affection  and  gratitude  by  hundreds  of  the  min- 
isters of  Christ's  gospel,  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

"  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  grave,  is  the  long  line  of 
tombs  that  contain  the  remains  of  the  successive  Presidents  of 
Kassau  Hall — honoured  names  and  v^'nerabk — IJurr,  and  Dick- 
inson, and  Edwards,  and  Smith,  and  Witherspoon,  and  Davied, 
and  Green,  with  other  men  who  have  borne  part  of  the  labours 
and  honours  of  the  College,  which  is  now- in  the  second  century 
of  its  years.  But  the  Theological  Seminary,  now  more  than 
thirty-six  years  old,  has  not  buried  a  Professor  before.  Long 
may  it  be  ere  it  makes  another  contribution  to  the  grave." 
Of  Dr.  Miller's  burial  Dr.  Spraguc  afterwards  said, 

"  His  funeral  was  no  mere  matter  of  solemn  form ;  it  had  in 
it  every  element  of  substantial  and  honouralile  mourning.  The 
great  and  the   good  were  drawn  thither  from  a  distance  to  tes- 


544  THE    LAST    OF   EARTH.  [CH.  4-3.  3. 

tify  their  gratitude  for  his  services,  and  their  reverence  for  his 
memory ;  and  words  of  truth  and  tenderness  were  responded 
to  in  tears  of  sorrowful  remembrance  and  deep  affection.  And 
if  there  is  a  grave  yard  which  the  saints  of  all-coming  genera- 
tions will  delight  to  honour, — nay,  at  which  the  angels,  from 
their  reverence  for  redeemed  dust,  sometimes  pause,  surely  it  is 
the  one  in  which  they  laid  that  beloved  man  of  God ;  for  his 
companions  in  the  slumber  of  the  tomb,  as  doubtless  they  are 
also  in  the  ecstacies  of  Heaven,  are  Burr  and  Edwards,  Davies 
and  Witherspoon,  Smith  and  Green  ;  and  who  shall  say  how 
many  more  of  the  wise  and  the  venerable  shall  hereafter  be 
gathered  to  that  illustrious  brotherhood?  I  love  to  think  that 
his  mortal  body  will  repose  in  a  bed  of  so  much  honour,  till, 
having  slept  out  its  long  sleep,  it  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  come  forth  ;  and  in  the  act  of  coming  forth,  shall 
become  incorruptible  and  immortal."^ 

Some  extracts  from  Dr.  Alexander's  funeral  sermon  have 
been  presented  on  previous  pages.     His  biographer  says, 

"Among  all  who  surrounded  his  grave,  there  was  none  whose 
mind  was  more  deeply  solemn  than  his  aged  colleague,  w^ho 
pronounced  a  simple  but  touching  funeral  discourse.  It  is 
much  to  be  regretted  that  no  full  report  of  this  was  ever  made. 
The  notes  which  exist  among  his  papers  are  no  more  than  hints 
for  the  aid  of  memory :  yet  even  these  fragments  we  feel  it  to 
be  duty  to  subjoin  in  part.     A  large  portion  is  manifestly  lost."^ 

Dr.  Alexander  remarked, 

"  The  character  of  our  deceased  friend  and  brother  may  be 
thus  summed  up.  In  all  the  private  and  domestic  relations  of 
life  he  was  exemplary.  As  a  neighbour  he  was  kind  and  cour- 
teous to  all,  and  exactly  just  in  his  dealings.  As  a  minister  he 
was  faithful  and  evangelical,  and  was  accustomed  to  present  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel  in  a  manner  so  distinct  and  methodical, 
that  his  discourses  could  not  only  be  understood  with  ease,  but 
readily  remembered  by  the  attentive  hearer.  As  a  member  of 
church  judicatories,  he  was  an  able  advocate  for  [truth],  a  warm 
friend  to  experimental  and  practical  piety  and  of  course  a 
friend  of  revivals.  No  member  of  our  church  has  done  more 
to  explain  and  defend  her  doctrines  than  our  deceased  brother. 
With  his  colleagues  he  was  uniformly  cordial ;  and  I  have  never 
known  a  man  more  entirely  free  from  vain  glory,  envy  and  jeal- 
ousy. To  the  students  under  his  care  he  was  paternal  and  af- 
fectionate."^ 

1  Discourse  Commemorative,  38,  39.  2  Life,  579. 

^  Life  of  Dr.  Alexander,  581,  582. 


1850.]  IX    MEMORIAM.  545 

In  a  letter  of  the  l-ttli  of  January,  liis  warm-liearteil,  and 
truly  beloved  friend,  Dr.  Cox,  ^vrote, 

"His  country,  and  his  age,  and  the  Church  of  God  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  coming  ages,  will  cherish  his  memory 
with  gratitude  and  honor.  I  remember  to  have;  heard  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers,  in  July,  1«4(),  speak  of  tlie  Kev.  Dr. 
Samuel  INIiller,  of  America,  in  terms  of  high  and  deserved  eu- 
logy, which  were  grateful  to  my  ear,  as  to  my  memory.  For 
one,  I  am  happy  to  record  the  assurance  of  my  own  sincere  in- 
debtedness to  his  pen — his  published  works.' 

A  letter  of  condolence  from  the  Rev.  Leonard  Woods, 
D.D.,  dated  the  2Gth  of  January,  contained  the  following 
passages: — 

*  I  too  feel  the  need  of  comfort ;  for  Dr.  Miller  has  been  one 
of  the  dearest  friends  I  ever  had  on  earth.  I  wasleil  to  resj»eet 
and  love  him  before  I  had  any  personal  acquaintance  with  him  ; 
and  from  the  time  when  I  first  saw  him,  my  esteem  and  all'ec- 
tion  for  him  continually  increased.  Our  friend>lii|)  was  like  a 
day  without  a  cloud  from  morning  to  night.  ^ly  meiiiory 
dwells  with  delight  on  the  many  happy  seasons  I  enjoyed  with 
him  in  his  study,  and  his  parlor,  and  elsewhere — seasons  al- 
ways instructive  and  refreshing  to  me.  And  Oh  I  if,  through 
infinite  grace,  I  may  gain  admittance  into  that  better  world  to 
which  he  has  gone,  what  a  blessed  and  unceasing  fellowsliip 
shall  I  hav^e  wath  him  in  the  presence  of  our  f^aviour  and  liis 
redeemed  people ! ' 

*  I  had  been  intending,  for  months,  to  write  to  Dr.  Miller. 
It  was  my  wish  to  tell  him  how  much  I  was  delighted  witli  his 
late  book  on  Public  Prayer,  and  how  others  agreed  with  me  in 
my  estimation  of  the  work.  Professor  8tuart  thought  it  uncom- 
monly excellent  throughout. 

*  I  hope  some  man,  well  qualified  for  the  work,  will  prepare  a 
biography  of  Dr.  Miller. 

Dr.  Sprague  and  Dr.  Boardman,  the  former  in  Albany, 
the  latter  in  Philadelphia,  both  on  the  same  Sabbath  even- 
ing— that  of  the  27th  of  January — preached  each  a  <lis- 
course  commemorative  of  Dr.  Miller,  from  which  interest- 
ing extracts  have  been  already  transferred  to  this  work. 
Dr.  Boardman's  was  repeated  the  Sabbath  evening  follow- 
ing, in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelpliia, 
and  both  discourses  were,  by  rcfjuest,  published.  It  the 
limits  necessarily  set  to  the  volume  here  closing  permitted, 
yet  other  eloquent  passages  from  each,  to  a  considerable 
len^rth,  -would  be  quoted;   but  it  is  impossible. 


546  THE    LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.  3. 

The  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  and  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  both  on  the  6th  of  February  ;  the  Ameri- 
can Whig  Society  of  the  College,  on  the  22d  of  the  same 
month,  and  the  General  Assembly,  upon  the  23d  of  May, 
passed  resolutions  commemorative  of  Dr.  Miller.  The  lat- 
ter of  these — that  of  the  Assembly, — was  as  follows  : — 

"  Resolved,     That  the  Assembly  record,  with  deep  emotion, 
tbe  decease  of  the  venerable  Professor  Emeritus  of  Ecclesias- 
tical History  and  Church   Government,  Rev.  Samuel   Miller, 
D.D.,  of  whom  becoming  mention  is  made  in  the  Report  of  the 
Board;  and  while  the  Church  is,  in  this  dispensation  of  divine 
Providence,  called  to  mourn  the  departure  of  one  w4io  has  long 
stood  among  the  foremost  in  her  counsels  and  in  her  confidence, 
— one  of  the  most  prominent  and  able  defenders  of  her  faith 
and  order — one  of  the  staunchest  friends  of  her  benevolent  in- 
stitutions— one  whose  conspicuous  talents,  ripe  judgment,  and 
elevated  piety,  made  him  eminently  a  fit   model  and  a  safe 
guide  for  her  rising  ministers,  and  whose  rare  excellence  and 
purity  of  character,  beautifully  exemplified,  in  the  eyes  of  all 
Avho  knew  him,  that  religion  to  the  cause  of  which  his  life  was 
devoted, — it  is  matter  of  profound  thankfulness  that  such  a 
man  was  raised  up  to  the  Church,  and  spared  to  her  through 
so  many  years  of  usefulness,  and  permitted  to  perform  so  valua- 
ble a  part  in  founding  our  first  Theological  Seminary, — which 
has  served,  to  a  great  extent,  as  the  model  of  all  our  after  In- 
stitutions,— in  arranging  its  plan,  and  giving  it  establishment ; 
and  that  it  was  not  until  this  great  work  of  his  life  was  done, 
and  he  had  ceased  from  the  active  discharge  of  these  duties, 
that  he  was  taken  to  his  glorious  reward." 

To  the  graceful  pen  of  the  Rev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler, 
D.D.,  we  are  indebted  for  the  following — an  extract  from 
the  Narrative  of  Religion  presented  to  the  Synod  of  New 
Jersey  on  the  16th  of  October,  1850. 

"  One  of  our  most  aged  and  venerated  Fathers  has  sunk  to 
his  peaceful  slumber,  in  the  quiet  of  that  retirement  to  which 
he  had  withdrawn  after  fourscore  years  of  toilsome  and  devoted 
service.  The  tidings  of  his  death  fell  cold  on  many  a  heart 
which  had  oft  been  gladdened  by  his  cordial  courtesy,  and 
cheered  by  his  counsels  of  tenderness  and  love.  "  Devout  men 
carried  him  to  his  burial,  and  made  great  lamentation  over 
him  ;  "  for  as  they  smoothed  that  honored  form  to  its  last  calm 
sleep,  they  knew  well  that  our  beloved  church  had  few  such  elo- 
quent lives  to  lose,  and  few  such  radiant  lights  to  be  extin- 
guished. 


1850.]  IN    MEMORIAM.  547 

Some  extracts  from  Dr.  Miller's  will  found  tlioir  way, 
after  his  decease,  into  the  newspapers.  In  tlie  first  para- 
graph, following  the  mere  formal  introduction,  the  testator 
declared  his  own  humble,  Christian  faith  and  hope  :  in  the 
last,  he  said, 

"  I  have  often  exhorted  my  dear  children  to  make  choice  of 
Christ  as  their  hope  and  portion.  In  that  solemn  view  of  death 
and  eternity,  which  I  take  in  writin-^  with  my  own  hand  this 
my  hist  Will  and  Testament,  I  would  earnestly  and  afffction- 
ately  repeat  my  exhortation  and  entreaty,  assuring  thcni  that, 
the  longer  I  live,  the  deepsr  is  ray  impression  of  the  import- 
ance of  the  claims  and  hopes  which  the  (rospel  of  Christ  ex- 
hibits ;  and  charging  them,  as  they  value  their  Father's  bless- 
ing, to  read  a  portion  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  every  day  of  their 
lives,  to  make  conscience  of  daily  secret  prayer,  to  keep  their 
birth-days  annually  as  days  of  special  retirement,  self-examina- 
tion and  prayer,  accompanied  with  fasting,  and  to  give  all  dili- 
gence to  rae3t  their  parents  on  the  right  hand  of  our  blessed 
Saviour  and  Judge." 

The  following  affectionate  memorial  is  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Hodge : — 

"Having  incidentally  mentioned  the  name  of  Dr.  Miller,  we 
may  be  permitted  to  pause  and  in  a  sentence  pay  our  humble 
tribute  to  that  sainted  man.  He  could  be  appreciated  only  by 
those  who  knew  him  intimately,  who  saw  him  day  by  day,  and 
year  in  and  year  out,  in  all  circumstances  suited  to  try  and  to 
reveal  the  true  character.  We  have  never  heard  any  one  who 
enjoyed  such  means  of  knowing  him,  speak  of  him  otherwise 
than  as  one  of  the  holiest  of  men.  May  the  writer  be  furtlier 
pardoned  for  obtruding  himself  for  a  moment,  so  far  as  to  say, 
that  during  twenty-nine  years  of  intimate  official  association 
-svith  these  two  venerated  men,  he  never  saw  the  sliirhtest  dis- 
courtesy, unkindness,  or  acerbity  manifested  by  the  one  to- 
wards the  other.  Thank  God  the  Princeton  Seminary  ha.s  a 
history !  The  past  is  safe.  The  memory  of  the  two  eminent 
men  who  were  its  first  professors,  and  wiio  gave  it  character, 
rests  over  it  as  a  halo,  and  men  will  tread  its  halls  ibr  their 
sake  with  something  of  the  feeling  with  which  they  visit  the 
tombs  of  the  good  and  great."  ^ 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1SG2,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  o^ 
the  Seminary  was  celebrated  at  Trinceton.  Dr.  Sprague 
delivered,  upon  this  occasion,  a  very  appropriate  and  intcr- 

1  Bib.  Rep.  and  Princeton  Rev.,  1S65,  P.  158. 


548  THE   LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.  3. 

esting  discourse,  In  which  again  he  paid  a  hearty  tribute  of 
respect  to  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller.  The  first  of  a 
series  of  resolutions  passed  was  as  follows  : — 

"  The  Alumni  of  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  as- 
sembled to  celebrate  its  fiftieth  Anniversary,  record  with  devout 
gratitude  their  sense  of  the  great  goodness  of  God  to  this  Insti- 
tution. We  especially  recognize  his  beneficent  Providence  in 
raising  up  those  two  venerated  men,  Archibald  Alexander 
and  Samuel  Miller,  to  become  its  first  professors,  and  in 
sparing  them  to  conduct  its  affairs  with  pre-eminent  wisdom  and 
fidelity  for  forty  years." 

The  following  is  Dr.  Miller's  epitaph,  prepared  by  his 
junior  colleague,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hodge. 

SACRED    TO    THE    MEMORY    OP 

SAMUEL    MILLER,    D.D.,   LL.D. 

Born  at  Dover,  Delaware,  Oct.  31,  1769. 

Died  at  Princetou,  N.  J.,  Jan.  7, 1850. 

For  twenty-one  years  Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 

in  the  city  of  New  York, 

For  thirty-^ix    years  Professor   of  Ecclesiastical    History  and  Church 

Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary 

in  this  place. 

In  both  callings,  faithful  and  edifying ; 

•  An  acceptable  and  evangelical  preacher  ; 

A  learned  and  assiduous  teacher  ; 

A  voluminous  and  celebrated  author ; 

Firm  in  adhering  to  truth,  and  bold  to  maintain  it ; 

Ptevered  in  the  Councils  of  the  Church 

Avhich  he  loved  and  served, 

And  of  whose  ministers  he  was  among  the 

most  distinguished  and  beloved 

Through  all  its  extent. 


In  private  life  admired  and  cherished. 

Exemplary  in  social  and  domestic  relations, 

A  model  of  Christian  courtesy, 

An  elegant  and  varied  scholar. 

Without  a  blemish  on  his  good  name, 

Temperate,  Diligent,  Devout, 

Humble,  Forgiving,  Beneficent, 

He  lived    esteemed   by  thousands, 

and  died  amidst  light  and  joy 

from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
In    whom    was    all  his    hope. 


The  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  wliich  he  was  so  long  an  ornament  and  blessing, 
In    gratitude    for    his    services    and    reverence    for    his 

memory. 
Have  erected  this  monument. 


1850-61.]  LAST  YEARS  OF  MRS.  MILLtlR.  549 

4.  Last  Years  of  Mrs.  Miller.— IIkk  Death. 

1850,  18G1. 

Mrs.  Miller  survived  her  liusband  upwards  of  eleven 
years — sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicit);^.  It  seemed,  at 
times,  as  if  the  loss  of  the  companion  of  her  youth  pressed 
more  and  more  heavily  upon  her ;  but  as  her  day  was,  so 
was  her  strength;  no  one  acquainted  with  her  christian 
walk,  doubted  that  she  was  constantly  growing  in  grace  an<l 
in  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  less  than  three  years 
after  Dr.  Miller's  death,  she  lost  her  eldest  surviving  broth- 
er, John  Sergeant^ — the  next  younger  of  the  family  to  her- 
self. Pursuing  her  accustomed  course  of  labour,  at  home 
and  abroad — still  specially  interested  in  the  education  of 
the  young,  and  ready  for  every  good  word  and  work — she 
passed  gradually,  and  almost  imperceptibly,  down  the  vale 
of  life,  constantly  refreshed  at  the  ever  flowing  fountain  of 
heavenly  grace. 

1  lie  was  born  on  the  5th  of  Bcceraber,  1779  ;  prepared  for  College  in  tho 
Preparatory  schools  of  the  University  of  Ptniisylviinia ;  and  at  Princeton,  in 
1795,  graduated  Bachelor  of  Arts.  After  a  brief  apprenticeship  in  the  tneronn- 
tile  house  of  Messrs.  Elliston  and  John  Perot,  he  studied  law  with  the  IIoiKtrablo 
Jared  Ingersoll.  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  yet  a  minor,  in  .July,  I71*9.  Very 
soon  he  obtained  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  In  1800  he  was  appointed  Deputy 
Attorney  General  for  Philadelphia  and  Chester  counties  ;  in  ISOl  by  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, a  Commissioner  of  Bankruptcy.  In  1S05  and  1S07,  he  was  in  the  State 
Legislature,  a  foremost  and  successful  advocate  for  internal  improvements 
In  1806,  he  declined  the  appointment  of  City  Rccoroer.  In  1815,  he  wa^  elec- 
ted to  Congress,  where  he  remained  during  four  successive  terms  of  the  Houso 
of  Representatives.  Here  he  distinguished  himself  in  1820,  as  alcatiing  advo- 
cate of  the  Missouri  restriction  upon  Slavery,  in  consequence  of  which  he  wm 
re-elected  without  o]>position.  In  1825.  he  was  Prcsitlent  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Board  of  Canal  Commissioners.  In  182<'>,  he  was  commissioned  by  Mr.  Adans 
as  one  of  the  ministers  plenipotentiary  to  the  proposed  American  Congrcs.i  at 
Panama.  On  his  return  from  this  fruitless  errand;  he  was  »>Iec  cd  to  Congress. 
In  18:52,  he  was  the  Whig  camlidate  for  the  Vice  Presidency  of  the  I'nitod 
States,  Mr.  Clay  being  the  candidate  for  President.  He  was  President  of  the 
Convention,  wliich  assembled  in  1>;?8,  to  reraoilel  the  Constitution  of  Penni«yl- 
vania.  In  1840,  he  was  elected  again,  and  for  the  last  time,  to  Congro«s.  Sub- 
sequently, he  received  from  Mr.  Tyler  tlie  nominati<»n  of  Minister  to  the  Court 
of  St.  James,  which  he  declined.  By  .Mr.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  Wnr,  he  wm 
appointed  arbitrator  to  determine  a  long  pending  and  vexatious  controvcrsj, 
1  e  we  n  the  United  States  and  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  which  vex.*  finally  wi 
tied  by  his  award.  He  died,  after  a  lingering  decline,  on  the  23rd  of 
November,  1852. 


550  THE    LAST    OF    EARTH.  [CH.  43.4. 

Her  decline  was  slower  even,  if  possible,  than  Dr.  Mil- 
ler's, and  she  was  not  confined  at  all  to  her  bed.  By  day, 
^she  reclined  upon  a  couch  in  the  family  sitting-room,  and 
there,  unexpectedly,  and  quietly  as  an  infant  drops  asleep, 
she  closed  her  eyes,  at  length,  upon  all  earthly  scenes.  Of 
the  "  article  of  death"  she  had  frequently  expressed  a  ling- 
ering dread  ;  and  it  seemed  as  if,  though  to  the  last  retain- 
ing her  mental  faculties,  she  was  borne  in  tender  mercy 
across  the  river,  without  feeling  its  cold  waters.  She  died 
on  Saturday,  the  2d  of  February,  1861,  having,  a  month 
before,  completed  her  eighty-third  year. 

Her  funeral  was  attended  on  Wednesday  afternoon  by  a 
large  concourse,  the  exercises  of  the  day  in  both  the  Semin- 
ary and  the  College  being  suspended  out  of  respect  to  her 
memory.  The  Rev.  Dr.  McDonald,  of  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  in  which  the  religious  services  were  held, 
preached,  as  her  pastor,  an  able  and  appropriate  discourse 
from  Psalm  92,  14.  The  R-ev.  Dr.  Hodge  took  part  in  the 
exercises.  Her  mortal  remains  were  then  deposited  in  the 
village  grave  yard,  beside  those  of  her  husband.  It  was 
almost  sixty  years  since  their  first  union  in  life,  when  they 
were  thus  united  in  death,  and,  as  to  their  corruptible  bodies, 
in  the  sepulchre. 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  II. 


Ability,  Natural  and  Moral,  228. 

Abolition,  235. 

Abstinence,  Total,  ?>0'.'>. 

Adams,  J.,  Correspondence  with,  49 — 
51.     Relig.  views  of,  50,  51. 

Adams,  J.  Q.,  340,  345,  346. 

Act  and  Testimony,  230,  233,  251  — 
254.  Character  of,  251,  252.  Ob- 
jections to,  252,  253. 

Admission  to  Church,  Public,  485. 

Address,  Caldwell  Monument,  478. 
"     to  Ministers,  etc.,  314,  316. 

African  School,  24,  25,  90.  Sermon 
for,  87. 

Albany.  Synod  of,  25,  501. 

Alden,  Prof.  J.,  Letter  to,  479. 

Alexander,  Dr.  A.,  13,  41,  42,  45,  46, 
50.  52,  191,  192,  213,  242,  247,  255, 
250,  279,  331,  357.  374,  380,  416, 
507,  519,  523,  941.  And  Dr.  M., 
14 — 18;  in  old  age,  515.  Attacked, 
430;  his  letter,  431.  Extracts  from 
funeral  sermons,  351,  398,  536,  540, 
544.  Last  visit  to  Dr.  M.,  539. 
Letter  of,  349.  On  Popish  bap- 
tisms, 199. 

Alexander,  Dr.  J.  A.,  357.  Extracts 
from,  129,  130,  257.  Chosen  pro- 
fessor, 205. 

Alexander,  Dr.  J.  W.,  316,  508.  Cen- 
tenary Discourse  of.  487.  Extracts 
from,"  15,  16.  126,  .398,  513,  514,  534, 
536,  540,  541,  544.  Inauguration 
of,  534.     Toasted,  487. 

Alumni  of  Seminary,  Sermon  before, 
265.     Resolution  of,  548. 

Alumni  of  University  of  Penn.,  Let- 
ters to,  521,  528. 

Alward,  Rev.  J.  P.,  429. 

American  Bible  Society,  444. 

American  Board  of  C.  F.  M.,  135,  139, 
197,  198,  205—207,  289,  .336.  Cor- 
porate member  of,  66.  Letters  to, 
o7,  09,  70,  367.  Rejection  of  reso- 
lution by,  23«. 

American  Education  Soc,  236,  328,  331 . 


American  Home  Miss.  Soc,  1 13,  194 
—196,  230,  320,  328,  331.  Lctiers 
to,  113,  210—212. 

American  Magazine,  etc.,  112. 

American  National  Preacher,  209,  311. 

American  Presbyterian  of  Xa«hville, 
433. 

American  S.  S.  Union's  Bib.  Diction- 
ary, 431. 

American  Temperance  Soc,  444. 

American  Tract  Soc,  444.  Opinion 
of,  475. 

American  Whig  Society's  Resolution, 
540. 

Amusements,  Worldly,  1^6 — 190. 

Anderson,  Dr.,  289.     Letter  to,  367. 

Anecdotes,  387,  3>S8. 

Anniversary  of  Seminary,  Fiftieth, 
547. 

Apology,  Bishop  Ilobarfs,  504. 

Arch  St.  Church,  Dedication  of,  80 ; 
sermon,  86,  87. 

Arians,  366. 

Articles  of  Faith.  Congregational,  l^j. 

Ashley,  Deacon,  68. 

Ashmun  Institute,  419. 

Assistant  N.  Y.  Miss.  Soc,  113. 

Atonement,  Views  of,  281. 

Attack  charged  and  denied,  433,  434. 

Aurora,  IS,  19. 

Authorship,  Dr.  M.'s,  507 — 509.  Last 
of,  5(13—510. 

Bacox,  Dr.,  115. 

Backus,  Dr.  J.  C.  Installation  of,  311. 

Baird,  Dr.  S.  J..  25.  Extructs  from, 
25,  197,  225,  290.  325,  328. 

Banner  of  Cross,  The,  434—437. 

Baptism,  362—307,  3»9.  Formula  of 
adult,  518.  For  other  denomina- 
tions, 4S().  Infant,  183.  Of  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian*,  356.  Popi»h, 
198 — 200,  307.  Sermon  and  Tract 
on,  2.'>5. 

Baptists,  242. 

Bar,  The,  422. 

551 


552 


INDEX. 


Barnabas,  Epistle  of,  439. 

Barnes,  Rev.  A.,  Sermon  of,  in  Mor- 
ristown,  150.  Views  of,  151,  274. 
6,  327.  Called  to  Philadelphia,  153, 
etc.  Letters  to,  153,  155,  277.  Ad- 
mission and  installation  of,  156. 
Sermon  of,  condemned,  157.  Vis- 
ited b}'  committee,  157-  Mistakes 
in  case  of,  156,  157.  Reference  to 
Assembly  of  case  of,  192,  193.  Re- 
port and  Decision  concerning,  193, 
231.  Case  of,  205,  231,  271—279. 
Notes  on  Romans  by,  and  arraign- 
ment of,  273.  Revision  of  Notes 
by,  275,  276.  Before  Synod,  276. 
Suspension  of,  276.  Ceases  to 
preach,  279.  In  Assembly  of  1836, 
283—288.  Explanations  by,  285. 
Condemnation  of  Notes  by,  315. 

Barr,  Rev.  J.  W.,  213.  Death  of,  213, 
223.     Funeral  sermon  for,  213. 

Baxter,  Dr.  Geo.  A.,  331. 

Beatty,  Dr.  C.  C,  Letters  to,  93.  201. 

Beecher,  Dr.  L.,  237,  280,  281,  283, 
322,  323,  342,  Arraigned,  269,  284, 
285.     Letters  to,  140,  269. 

Beecher,  Rev.  Charles,  237. 

''  "     Dr.  Edw.,  284,  343. 

"  "     H.  W.,  237. 

Begging,  Dr.  M.'s  Views  of,  515. 

Beman,  Dr.,  192,  195,  203,  292,  342— 
345. 

Benefactor,  Being  a  public,  469. 

Benevolence,  Christian,  177 — 179,  376, 
387,  ;i93,  396,  515, 

Bible  and  Bible  Societies,  19,  97—102, 
106.  In  College,  487.  Daily  read- 
ing of,  470. 

Biblical  History,  4'^5. 

Biblical  Repertory,  110,  271,  306— 
309,  325,  327,  335,  353,  417.  Ex- 
tracts from,  252,  257,  546. 

Birth-days,  Observance  of,  184,  528. 

Bishop,  Rev.  A.,  69. 

Blair,  Dr.  S.,  147. 

Blythe,  Dr.  J.,  316. 

"     Rev.  J.  W.,    Reminiscences   of, 
399,  400,  412. 

Boardman,  Dr.  H.  A..  Commemora- 
tive Disc,  of,  545.  Extracts  from, 
14,  17,  126.  127,  395,  396,  508.  Let- 
ter from,  513,-  to,  477,  512. 

Boards.  See  Am.  Board,  Dom.  Mis- 
sions, Education,  For.  Missions, 
Publication,  etc. 

Boards  and  Voluntary  Societies, 
Church.     See  Vol.  Societies. 

Boston,  Ministry  in,  54—56. 

Bowden,  Dr.,  432,  435. 

Bower's  History  of  Popes,  461. 


Breckinridge,  Death  of  Elizabeth,  159. 
"  Dr.  J.,  83,  84, 197,  198,  214,  315, 
322,  325,  351,  495.  Installation  of, 
115.  In  Philadelphia,  200,  201. 
Chosen  professor,  265.  Removal  to 
Princeton  of,  348.  Agent  of  Board 
of  For.  M.,  349.  Marriage  and 
death  of,  445. 

Breckinridge,  Mrs.  Margaret,  83,  84. 
Death  of,  348—352.  Funeral  of, 
351.  Letter  to,  349.  Memorial  of, 
351. 

Breckinridge,  M.  C,  Letter  to,  522. 
"     M.  E.,  391,  536. 
"     Dr.  R.  J.,  174,  251.     Letter   of, 
331. 

Brodhead,  Mr.,  461. 

Brown's  Bible  Dictionary,  431. 

B.own,  Dr.  I.  V.,  316,  317.  Extract 
from,  253. 

Bulwer's  novels,  466,  467. 

Burgess,  Rev.  D.,  Letter  to,  298. 

Burke  quoted,  62. 

Burns,  Dr.,  On  Ruling  Elders,  172. 

Burr,  Advice  ot  Aaron,  223,  224. 

Caldwell,  Monument  to  Rev.  J.,  478. 

Call,  Last,  526. 

Calvin  on  Confirmation,  437.  On  Ig- 
natius, 440.  Institutes  of,  436,  440. 
Misquoted,  436.  Not  a  prelatiitt, 
434—437. 

Calvinism,  50,  f5.  Caricatured,  326, 
327. 

Cameron,  Mr.,  52. 

Campbell,  Rev.  Jos.,  103,  104. 

Carey,  M.,  248. 

Carnahan,  Dr.  J.,  72,  205,  232,  242, 
388.  Inauguration  of,  72.  Remi- 
niscences of.  371 — 377. 

Cassels,  Rev.  S.  J.,  Letter  to,  452. 

Catechism  of  Ch.  Government,  243. 

Catechisms,  403.     Westminster,  185. 

Catechists  and  Exhorters,  37,  38. 

Catechizing  children,  402. 

Catholic  Layman,  A,  248. 

Cedar  St.  church,  110. 

Centenary  of  University  of  Penn., 
521,  528.     Of  College  of  N.  J.,  487. 

Certificates,  Church,  401. 

Chalmers,  Dr.,  416,  509.  Letter  to, 
167. 

Chambers,  Rev.  J.,  114,  115. 

Chanse  of  Sentiments,  234. 

Channing,  Dr.  W.  E.,  7  :. 

Chapel,  Seminary,  254. 

Characteristics,  General,  371 — 397. 
Professional,  398—416. 

Chequered  Scenes,  348 — 370. 

Chesterfield,  The  American,  530. 


INDEX. 


553 


Children  of  Church,  Caro  of,  353,  35^, 

402,  458. 
Christian  Advocate,  72,  0".     Extracts 

from,  IK).  130,  131.  19G. 
Christian  Examiner.  327. 

*•'     Journal,  1)7.     Letrc-r  to,  98. 

"     Spectator,  173,  195. 
Church    a   Mi:*siorarv  and    Education 

Society,  230.     Pacific  ition  and  Pu- 
rification   of,   271.      State   of,   272, 

273. 
Church    Government.    403,    407—409. 

AVork  on  requested,  93.     Catechism 

of,  243. 
Church  judicatories.  Dr.  M.  in,  401. 
Church  members.  Examination  of,  476. 

"     troubles,  313—319. 
Cincinnati  of  N.  J.,  478. 
Circular  Letter  to  Churches,  331. 
Circular,  Education,  42.  43. 
Clerical  Manners  and   Habits,  2S,  123 

—131,  190. 
Clerical  Socit^ty,  Princeton,  373,  374. 
Clericus  on  Dancinj;.  502. 
Cleveland,  Rev.  J.  P.,  342—345. 
Closet  and  the  Family,  The.  180—186. 
Codman,  Dr.  J.,  49.     Letter  to,  137. 
Cojrswell,  Prof.,  322.     Letters  to,  403, 

405,  407. 
Colleagues,  The    aged,  512.     Conduct 

towards,  10. 
College   of   N.  J.,  28.     Centenary  of, 

487.     Letters  ti)   graduates   of,  4(iS, 

471,    472;    to    Instructor    of,    4t"!(). 

Presidency  of,   70.     Straits    of,  132 

— 134.     Continuance    of  studies  of, 

409. 
College  training,  421. 

"     Washington,  495. 
Committee    men,    192. 

Of  Elections,  311.     Often. 

314,  328.     Of  thirty,  291. 
Communion,  Occasional,  352.    Private, 

477. 
Com|iletpness  of  character,  395. 
Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons, 

403,409,410. 
Concert  in  prayer,  29. 
Conference  with  Professors,  3IG. 
Conference,  Seminnry,  410. 
Confession   of  Faitli,  Subscription  of, 

477. 
Confirmation,  Committee  on,  437. 
Congregational  nuietings,  Call  of,  466. 

President  of,  4GG. 
Congregational  practices  in  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  485. 
Congregationalism,  Influence  of,  113, 

114. 

* 


!  Congress,  340.     Sermon  before.  34. 
Connecticut,  (Jen.  Assi.e.  of,  11  J. 
Controversy,  Rdigioun,  4i»l. 
Contradiction,  Self,  439. 
Contumacy,  241. 
Convention    of  Wentern    Synodu,   196, 

203,  201.  Of  1S37.  32s. 
Conversational  |»ower.-i.  .''.1. 
Cooke,  Dr.  .J.  E.,  l.V.I,  432,  i:;5.    Ill  — 

443. 
Corresjxtndence  with  other  denomina- 

ti.  ns.  242. 
Counting-house.  422. 
Covenant,  Parental.  182,  183. 
Cox,  Dr.  S.  II.,  4G,  1 13,370,  379.    Let- 
ter of,  545  ;  to,  461.     Keuiiniecenccs 

of.  377—381. 
Creeds  and  Confessions,    Lecture  on, 

9G— 102,  112. 
Cromwel,  Oliver,  47'.". 
Cunningham,    Dr.    11.    .M.,    l.'jtier  of, 

53. 
Cuvler.  Dr.  C.  C,  i'.lG. 

•''     Dr.  T.  L.,  Extract  from,  546. 

Dana,  Dr.,  Letter  to,  .'.IG. 

Dancing,  Promiscuous.  1>m»  —  l^'.'.  •<'<-. 

Dartmouth    University,  Invitation   to 

Presidency  of,  22,  2:*.. 
Daughter,  Letters  to,  141,  1G7. 
Death-bed.  538—541. 
Death  of  Elizab.  Breckinridge,  159. 
''         Dr.  "  445. 

«         Mrs.  34  H— 352. 

"         C.l.  and  Mrs.  McLanc,  2;?. 
"         Edw.  M.  Mdler,  220. 
"         Elizab.  "       102—105. 

"         Dr.  "       540.        No- 

tices of,  540,  541. 
Death  of  Mrs.  Miller.  550. 
"  E.  Serg-ant,  179. 

'•         John  Sergeant,  549. 
Death-scenes,  105. 
Debts.  Payment  of,  387.  412.  33S. 
Defeat,  Triumph  and,  2G1— 2'.tl. 
Defence  of  Course  in  Mew  School  con- 
troversy, 228—230. 
Deference  to  <»thors,  375. 
Delavan,- Letter  to  E.  C.  440. 
Delaware,  Synod  of.  2.iO.202.  263.  274. 
Departments  of  in^ttrut-tion.  4m3. 
Devotion,  Private  and  united.  ISI. 
Devotional  eoin|)o8itioii.  505,  500. 

*'     spirit,  :<73. 
De  Witt.  Kuv.  Abr.,  Rerainiicencc  of, 

41.5. 
Diary,  Dr.  M.'*.  Birth-day.  20«i.  24.*, 
311,  357,368,427,  447.  44--.  4sl.  497. 
Ordination-dav,  2M,  444,454.  Wed- 


554 


INDEX. 


ding-day,  207,  244,  427,  459,  481, 

496.     Miscellaneous,  208,  209,  224, 

225,  245,   259,  351,   357,   359,  425, 

426,  445,  468,  473,  479,   501,  503, 

509 511. 

Diary,  Mrs.'  M.'s,  16,  48,  191,  219. 

Dickey,  Mr.,  292,  297. 

Dickson,  Dr.  H.  S.,  Letter  to,  476. 

Directors  of  Seminary,  Letters  to,  484, 
515.     Action  of,  about  salary,  525. 

Directory  for  Worship,  504.  Revised, 
24. 

Discipline,  Church,  258,  259,  480.  Re- 
vision of  Form  of,  24,  Imperfect 
forms   of,  285—288.     Resisted,  327. 

Disowning  of  Synods,  329,  330. 

Division  of  Church,  316—319.  Com- 
mittee upon,  328.     Opposed,  233. 

Doctorate  of  Divinity,  140,  370.  Of 
Laws,  495. 

Doctrine,  Errors  of,  151,  263,  274,  275, 
327.  The  ground  of  controversy, 
200.     Substance  of,  326. 

Dod,  Prof.  A.  B.,  374. 

Domestic  Missions,  203—205,  452. 
Board  of,  210—212,  250.  Attempt 
to  destroy  Board  of,  289.  See  Am. 
H.  M.  Soc. 

Dow.  Rev.  Dr,,  324. 

Drafts  upon  strength,  466. 

Dress,  375. 

Duane,  Col,,  Letter  to,  18,  19. 

Duffield,  Rev.  George,  284. 

Duncan,  Rev,  J,  M.,  96,  112,  114. 

Dunlop,  A,,  1  72. 

Dutch  Neck,  Church  of,  52^. 

East  Windsor  Seminary,  247,  323. 

Ecclesiastical  History,  403,  405.  Work 
on,  requested,  93. 

Economy,  376,  387. 

Edgeworth.  Letter  to  Miss,  66,  67. 

Education,  382.  Annual,  213.  Board  of. 
44,197,  213,  214;  Attempt  to  de- 
stroy, 289;  Sermon  before,  249. 
Of  eh'ldren,  121.  417—423.  For 
ministry,  230.  Reporta  on,  418, 
420.  Societies.  40—44.  Soe.  of 
Presb.  Ch.,  41.  Policy,  Hist,  of 
Early,  25.     See  Am.  Ed.  Soc. 

Edwards,  Life  of  Jonathan,  324. 

Edwards,  Dr.  Justin,  Letter  to,  301, 
303. 

Elder,  Ruling,  A  licentiate  a,  448, 

Elders,  Rulin  •,  Imposition  of  hands 
by,  455,  Rights  of,  423.  Sermon 
to,  456.  Views  of,  173,  174.  Works 
on,  171—174,  430   509, 

Elective  Affinity  Courts,  193,  194,  215, 


230,  238,   250,   251,   262,  263,    290, 

328,  478. 
Elizabeth,  First  Church  of,  478. 
Elliott,  Dr.  D.,  341.     Letters    to,   317, 

356. 
Ely,  Dr.  E.  S.,  155,  156,  281. 
Ely,   Rev.   George,  Reminiscence   by, 

523—525. 
Emeritus  Profess  r,  517. 
Engles,  Dr.  W.   M.,   155.     Letter   to, 

255. 
English,  Rev.  J.  T.,  Letter  to,  362. 
Episcopal    Church,    Contribution    to, 

383. 
Episcopal   attack,   257.     Controversy. 

23,  24,   26,   257,   258,     Criticism  of 

Letters  on  Unitarianism,  68.     Min- 
ister, Reception  of,  488.     Recorder, 

438. 
Episcopalian?,  97. 

Epitaph,  548.     On  Dr.  S.  S.  Smith,  40. 
Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ,  Deniers  of, 

78,  79.     Letters  on  the,  28,  73—82. 
Evarts,  J.,  Letters  to,  57,  69,  70. 
Ewing,   Ch.   Justice,  171.     Letter  to, 

168. 
Ewing,  Dr.  Greville,  Letter  of,  129. 
Examination  for  church   membership, 

476. 
ExaminaMon,   Presbyterial    right    of, 

230,  262,  315. 
Exchanges,  Pulpit,  94,  95. 
Excision  of  Synods  319.  329,  330. 
Exercise,  121—123,  375,  382,  521. 

Failing  strength,  473 — 500. 

Fairs,  Church,  402,  403. 

Fnma  clnmosa,  258,  259. 

Family,  The  Closet  and  the,  180— 186. 
Gathering,  527.     Worship,  48,   184. 

Farming,  117—121. 

Fashionable  accomplishments,  177. 

Fasting,  325.     Sermons  on,  164 — 167. 

Fathers,  Princeton,  97,  101. 

Female  Benevolent  Society,  419. 

Female  Sex,  Deference  to,  428. 

field.   Judge    R.    S..   474.     Reminis- 
cences by,  381 — 384. 

Finney,  Rev,  C.  G.,  20.3,  238,  271,  280. 

Fisher,  Dr.  S..  264,  281. 
''     Prof.,  326. 

Fiske,  Dr.  B.,  Letter  of,  117. 

Flavel,  John,  492. 

Forbearance,  Polemical,  436. 

Force  of  Truth,  Scott's,  430,  438. 

Ford,  Rev.  J.,  24. 

Foreign  Missions,  197,  198,  243,  244" 
Board  of,  331,  335—338. 

Forrjiving  dis2)Osition,  35. 


INDEX. 


555 


Forms  of  Government,  Diaciplino  and  ' 

Worship  revised,  24. 
France,  4l.'4,  425. 
Fraser,  Rev.  W.  J..  284. 
Freeniiin,  Rev.  J.,  Letter  to,  47. 
Free  Masonry  in  the  (t.  Assembly,  50. 
FuUerton.  Letter  to  Mrs.,  :VJ. 
Funeral  of  Mrs.  M.  lireckinriilge,  35L 

"         Edw.  M.  Miller,  221. 

"         Dr.  Miller,  541—544. 

"  Mrs.     "       550. 

Funeral  service,  365. 

Gauhltng  quotations,  432,  435,  44L 

Gardening,  119,  120. 

Gathering  Clouds,  148—159. 

Gen.  Assembly,  (1789),  112;  (181fi), 
113;  (1817),  27;  (1819),  44;  (1820), 
24;  (1821),  24;  (182()),  114;  (1828), 
194,  195;  (1831),  191—200,  232: 
(1831-1830),  229—230:  (1832),  215; 
(1833),  210,  241  ;  (1834).  24S— 251  ; 
(1835).  232,  201—200;  (1830),  232, 
282—297;  (1837),  325— :i32,  335; 
(1838).  338—347.  Freemasonry  in, 
56.  Majorities  in,  191,  215,  240. 
249,  201,  204,  285,  328,  339.  Or- 
ganization of,  340,  341.  Places  of 
meeting  of,  261.  Representation  in, 
329.  330.  Resolutions  of,  510,  517, 
540.     Rights  of,  314. 

Gen.  Assoc,  of  Connecticut,  114,  115. 

Genesee,  Synod  of  330. 

Geneva,  Synod  of,  330. 

Genius,  Dr.  M.  not  a,  390. 

Gentleman  of  Baltimore,  Letter  to  a, 
28,  112. 

Gethsemane  View  of  Atonement,  281. 

Gibson,  Ch.  Justice,  301. 

*•     Rev.  T.  C,  Extract  from,  112. 

Gilchrist,  Letter  to  John  T.,  423. 

Glendv,  Dr.,  115. 

Goodeli,  Rev.  W.,  09. 

Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  509. 

Green,  Dr.  A.,  28,  29.  47,  150—152. 
150,  157,  380,  395.  458.  Letters  to, 
18.  72.  81, 151,  330.  Reminiscences 
of.  502,  503.     Toasted.  487. 

Griffin,  Dr.  E.  D.,  25,  378.  iWtcr  to, 
85.     Review  of  sermons  of,  354,  417. 

Griffith.  .Mrs..  60,  67. 

Gunn.  Life  of  Dr.  Livingston  by  Alex., 
Letter  for,  107. 

Gurney's  Bib.  Dictionary,  431. 

Guthrie,  J.,  on  Eldership,  172,  173. 

Habits  and  Manners.  117 — 131. 

Half-way  covenant,  360. 

Hall,  Dr.  J.,  Reminiscence  by,  400. 


Hallock,  Rev.  W.  A..  Letter  to,  474. 
Halsey.  Dr.  L.  J.,  E.\tract8  from,  127, 

4I>9.  410,  507. 
Ilanna,  .Miss  E.  N.,  178. 
Ilariiiony,  Family.  175  — 180. 
Harris,  Letter  to"  Rev.  0.,  480. 
Harvey,  Dr.,  270. 
Heilth,  121.  425—127,  473.  497—501. 

Care  of.  301,  302,  375.  3S5. 
Henry,  Alex.,  Letter  of,  103.  liil. 
Heresy  hunting,  152. 
Hewit.  Dr.,  270. 
High  Churchism.  97,  457. 
Hill.  Dr.  Wm.,  310. 
Hillyer,  Dr..  201,  2sl. 
Historical  Societv  of  X.  J.,   38.3,  473, 

474,  531.     Of  \.  Y.,  3S3. 
Ilistorv    of   Earlv    Educiitifin    Policy, 

Dr.  'Baird's,    25.     Of    New    School, 

Dr.  B.'s,  25.     Of  Presb.  Cburoh,-  20, 

21. 
IIol);irt,    Bishop,    97—99,    106.       On 

Preaching  and  Praver,  504. 
Hodge,  Dr.  C,  4(5.  lib,  251.  519,  54!, 

517.     Funeral  sermon  bv.  221. 
Hoge.  Dr..  52.  292,  290.  297,  322. 
Home  .Miss.  Soc.      See  .\m.  H.  .M.  S. 
Hopkinsianism,  25,  27,   40,   132,  149, 

203,  235. 
Horner,  Robert,  397. 
Horseback  riding,  123. 
Hospitality,  35. 
HoUfC  erected,  13. 
Hou<ehold  religion,  175 — 190. 
Housekeeping,  179. 
How.  Dr.  T.  Y.,  Vindication  by,  23,  24. 
Howard  Society,  N.  J.,  2J5. 
Hoyt.  Letter  to  Dr.  N..  450—152. 
Hiune,  Extra'^t  from.  21. 
Humility,  392,  419. 
Humour,  387. 
Humphrov,  Dr..  322. 
Hunt,  Rev.  H.  W..   Reminiscence  by, 

401. 
Huntingdon,  Rev.  C,  Letter  to,  36S. 
Huntington.  .Mrs.,  56. 
lluntting.  Reminiscences  by  Rer.  W., 

412. 
Husband,  Dr.  M.  as  a,  428. 

Idlkskss  injurious,  472. 
Ignatius,   Epistles  of.  439,  440.     Quo- 
tations from,  4M — 143. 
Illinois  Collego,  2^4. 
Illnesf  at  I'niontown,  291. 
Impostor.  167,  168. 
In.lustry.  3S6.  390. 
Infirmities,  520. 
Inoculation,  378. 


556' 


INDEX. 


Intellectual  characteristics,  388,  389. 
Introductory  Lectures,    96 — 102,   111, 

112,  136,388,  389,  404. 
Irenajus's   account   of   funeral,   541 — 

543. 
Ives,  Bishop,  434,  435. 

Janeway,  Dr.  J.  J.,  536.  On  Internal 
Evidence,  476.     Letter  to,  476. 

Janeway,  Dr.  T.  L.,  Letter  to,  500. 

Jerome,  L.  W.,  127. 

Jesting  and  levity,  10. 

Johnson,  Rev.  E.  M.,  335. 

Jones,  Dr.  J.  H.,  Letter  of,  502. 

Judicatory,  postponed  by  moderator, 
482,  483. 

Junkin,  Dr.  G.,  316.  Arraigns  Mr. 
Barnes,  273,  275,  285. 

Kent,      Chancellor,      Correspondence 

with,  490,  492. 
Kent,  Wm.,  Letter  of,  492,  493. 
King,  Dr.  B.,  377. 
Kirby,  Rev.  W.,  284. 
Kirkpatrick,  Ch.  Justice,  16,  71,   108, 

377. 

Laborious  habits,  374. 
Labour  and  Sorrow,  501 — 529. 
Labors   Fruitless   and   Fruitful,  222 — 

260. 
Labors,  Professorial,  27,  28. 
Lacy,  Dr.  D.,  Letter  of,  483;    to,  482. 
Ladies'  Assoc,  Letter  to,  511. 
Lady,  Reminiscences  by  a,  309. 
Last  of  earth,  530—550. 
Last  Years  of  Mrs.  M.,  549,  550. 
Later    Episc   Controversies,  429 — 443. 
Lathrop,  Dr.,  34. 
Latta,  Rev.  W.,  331. 
Lawsuit,    Presbyterian,   360:     ended, 

448. 
Layman,  A,  438. 
Leach,  Rev.  Mr.,  250. 
Lectures  at  Seminary,  Last,  526. 

"     Repeated  to  family,  421. 
Ledyard,  Mrs.  S.  F.,  Letters   to,   423, 

444. 
Ledyar      H.,  Letter  to,  359. 
Leland,  Dr.,  331. 
Lenox,  R.,  317. 
Letters  of — 

Adams,  J.,  50. 

Alexander,  Dr.  A.,  349. 

"     Dr.  J.  W.,  171,  222,  534,  536. 

Boardman,  Dr.  H.  A.,  513. 

Cox,  Dr.  S.  H.,  545. 

Cunningham,  Dr.  R.  M.,  63. 

Ewing,  Dr.  Greville,  129. 


Letters  of — 

Henry,  Alex.,  104. 

Jones,  Dr.  J.  H.,  502. 

Kent,  Chancellor,  490. 
"     Wm.,  492,  493. 

Lacy,  Dr.  D.,  483. 

Livingston,  Dr.  J.  H.,  82. 

McCrie,  Dr.  Th.,  25,  26. 

McFarland,  Dr.  F.,  36,  52. 

Miller,  Dr.  Samuel.  (See  under 
Adams,  Alden,  Am.  B.  C.  F.  M., 
Am.  H.  M.  Soc,  Am.  Tr.  Soc, 
Anderson,  Barnes,  Beatty,  Beech- 
er,  Boardman,  Breckinridge,  Bur- 
gess, Cassels,  Chalmers,  Cogswell, 
College  graduates.  College  instruc- 
tor, Committee,  Dana,  Daughter, 
Delavan,  Dickson,  Directors,  Du- 
ane,  Edgeworth,  Edwards,  Elliott, 
Engles,  English,  Evarts,  Ewing, 
Freeman,  Friend,  Fullerton,  Gil- 
christ, Green,  Griffin,  Hallock, 
Harris.  Hoyt,  Huntingdon,  Jane- 
way,  Kent,  Lacj',  Ladies'  Assoc, 
Ledyard,  Lowrie,  McDowell,  Mc- 
Elhenney,  McLean,  Magic,  Mitch- 
ell, Miller,  Murray.  Neighbour, 
Nettleton,  Pastor,  Son,  Patten, 
Plummer,  Publication,  Pupil, 
Reed,  Rice,  Richards,  Sanford, 
Searle,  Sergeant,  Sprrks,  Sprague, 
Stuart,  Sturges,  Swift,  Taylor, 
Tustin,    Wales,  White,  Wisner.) 

Miller,  Mrs.  Sarah,  291,  443. 

Minister,  A  country,  466. 

Phillips,  Dr.  W.  W.,  518. 

Rice,  Dr.  J.  H.,  37,  117. 

Searle,  Rev.  T.  C,  22. 

Sergeant,  J.,  360,  361,  448. 
"     Th.,  425. 

Smith,  J.  C,  266. 

Stuart,  Prof.  M.,  128. 

Sturges,  Rev.  S.,  487. 

Swift,  Dr.  E.  P.,  62. 

Taylor,  Rev.  J.,  63. 

Tustin,  Pr.  S.,  495. 

Wisner,  Dr.  B.  B.,  129,  137. 

Woods,  Dr.  L.,  545. 
Letters.     See  Publications. 
Letter-writing,  463 — 472,  522. 
Levity,  .Jesting  and,  10. 
Lewis  on  Eldership,  Mr.,  173. 
Liberal  Christianity,  101,  102. 
Liberality,   177—179,    376,    387,    393, 

396,  515. 
Licentiates,  455. 
Lincoln  University,  419. 
Lindslev,  Dr.  P.,  72. 
Lit.  and  Phil.  Soc  of  N.  J.,  108. 


INDEX. 


557 


Livingston,  P.roekholst,  423. 

"     Dr.  J.  II.,  107.     Letter  of,  82. 
Locke,  00. 
Lot)mis,  Kov.  A.  W.,  Reminiscences b}', 

412— 41L 
Lorimer,    Dr.    J.    G.,    172.      Extract 

from,  255 — 2o7. 
Louisville.  Presbytery  of,  243. 
Lowrie,  W.,  Letter  to,  330. 

McAuLEV,  Dr.,  114. 

McCbevne,  Lite  of,  401, 

McCrie,  Dr.  T.,  Letter  of,  25,  26. 

McDonald,  Dr..  550. 

McDowell,  Dr.  J.,  114,  377.     Letter  to, 

246,  247. 
McDowell,  Dr.  W.  A..  315,  322. 
McElhenney,  Dr.  J.,  Letter  to,  227. 
McFarland."  Dr.  F.,  315,325.     Letters 

of,  30.  52. 
McGill,  Dr.,  519. 
Maclaine's  Mosheim.  404. 
McLane,  Death  of  Col.  and  Mrs.,  28. 
McLean,  Dr.  D.  V.,  474. 
Macurdy,  Rev.  E.,  36. 
Majority  proceeding,  339,  340. 
^Mannerism,  Freedom  from,  391. 
Manners,  Habits  and,  117 — 131. 
Manners,  Dr.  M.'s,  15,  124—128,  375, 

382,  384. 
Marsh,  E.,  103,  104. 
Mason,  Dr.  E.,  341,  342. 

Dr.  J.M.,  400. 
Masonry,  Free,  56. 
Maternal  Association,  420. 
MathesoD,  Dr.  312. 
Memorial  of  Mrs.  Breckinridge,  351. 
Memorial  of  Convention  of  1835,  231, 

201,  202. 
Memorial,  Testimony  and,  328. 

«     Western,  250.  ' 
Memoriatn,  In,  541 — 548. 
Memoirs.     See  Publications. 
Mercantile  business,  422. 
Mercies,  426. 
Methodists,  242. 
Micpc  Eccleeinaticif,  352. 
Mill,  Old,  488. 
Miller,  E.  M.,   184,   185.     Death    nn<l 

funeral  of,  210—221.    Letter  to,  21  s. 

Miller,  E.,83,  84.    Death  of,  102—105. 

"      Margaret,    83,    84.      See   Mrs. 

Breckinridge. 
Miller,  Mrs.  Sarah,  418,  419,  426,  496. 

Diary  of,  16,219.     Letters  of,  141, 

443. 
Mills,  S.  J.,  25. 
Mines,  Rev.  F.  S.,  238,239 


Ministry,  (iospol,  10,  11,398 — 102,421. 

Prepiiratiou  li)r,  137,  113 — 145. 
Minority  proceeding.  H40. 
Mi.-^iuotutittns,  4.'!5,  439. 
Missionaries  ordaim-d,  69. 
Missionary  Chroiiiide,  475. 
MissiunHry  Societies, 46,  II.'!.     See  Am. 

B.  C.  F.  M..  Am.  Jl.  M.  Soc.,  Dom. 

Missions,  For.  Missions. 
Missions,  112,  11.3,  230,  316. 
Mitchell,  Dr.,  Letter  to,  167. 

"     Rev.  J.,  .307. 
Moderates,  253. 

Moderator's  power  to  postpone  judica- 
tory, 4S2. 
Monteith,  Letter  to  Rev.  W.  J.,  306. 
Monthly  Concert,  Letters  on,  475. 
Moore,  Letter  to  Rev.  .1.  W.,  136. 
Mosheiin's  Eceles.  History.,  101. 
Mount  Lucas  Institute,  419. 
Muir,  Dr.,  30. 
Murdoch's  Mosheim,  401. 
Murray,  Dr.  X.,   Letters  to,  429,  443, 

447,  478.     Reminiscences  by,  530 — 

534. 
Murray  St.  Lecture,  148. 
Musgrave,  Dr.  (;.  W.,  322,  323. 

X.^^TION'AL  Preacher,  115,  116. 

Xeander,  Dr.,  440. 

Xeighbour,  Letter  to,  463,  464. 

Xeill,  Dr.,  197. 

Xettleton.    Dr.  A.,  95.  238,  323,  408. 

Letters  to.  95.  213,  222,  247,  268,  269, 

279,  2.s(»,  322.  3rt8. 
Xevins,  Dr.  W.,  311.     Ordination  of, 

58—60. 
New  Brunswick.  Presb.  of,  44,  254,  315, 

325,   332.    333.     Centenary  of,  357. 

Resolutions  of.  546. 
X'cw  Divinity,  46.  238. 
Xew  England,  Journey  in,  49.     Theol- 

ogv,  119. 
New  Haven,  Association  of,  115.  The- 
ology. 149,  150,202,  203,  280,281, 

323,  326. 
Xew   Jersey  Hist.  Soe.,  383,  473,  474. 

Howard    Soc.,  245.     Synod   of,  333, 

401,  420,  546. 
Xew  measure",  23S,  239. 
Xew  School  ControTcrsv,  Old  and.  42, 

43^  l4S_15tf,    191—207.    210—212, 

222—240,249—254,  261—265,  268— 

291,  313,  323.  3'25— 347,  360  -361. 

Origin  of  termi",  192. 
Xew  Test.,  25,  46. 
Xewton,  John.  465,  492. 
Xew  York    Asiist.  Mic.  Soc.,  Eruig. 


558 


INDEX. 


Miss.  Soc,  and  Miss.  Soc,  113. 
Hist.  Soc,  383,  460,  461,  546.  Let- 
ter to,  461.  Observer,  Extracts 
from,  301,  320.  And  N.  J..  Synod 
of,  24.     Visit  to  Western,  107,   108. 

Niagara  Falls,  Visit  to,  107,  108. 

Nisbet,  A.,  Letter  to,  356. 
"     Memoir  of  Dr.,  356,  425. 

North  Am.    Kev.,  Extraet   from,  129, 
130. 

North  Carolina,  Synod  of,  482. 

Novel  readin?,  189,  190,  4f'6. 

J^unc  Dunittis,  530 — 538. 

Old  age,  417 — 462. 

Old  School,  Mistakes    f,  272,  273.  See 

New  School. 
Onderdonk,  Bishop,  H.  U.,  257,  258. 
Oratory,  Seminary,  254. 
Order,  Church,  239,  240. 
Ordination  after  license,  429. 
Owen  on  Confirmation,  Dr.,  437. 

pAciFicrs,  (Dr.  M.,)  320. 
Parental  influence,  226,  227. 
Park  St.  Church,  354,  355. 
Pastoral  letter  to  churches,  331. 
Pastoral   Union  of  Conn.,  247. 
Pastor,  Letter  to,  466.      Not  a  sojour- 

er,  475. 
Patten,  Ann,  28,     Letter  to,  48. 
Patton,  Dr.  Wm.,  341,  342. 
Paul  the  Apostle,  537. 
Periodical  publications,  19,  20. 
Personal  Appearance,  384. 
Pest  houses,  378. 
Peters,  Dr.,  195,  314. 
Phelps,  Rev.  E.,  343. 
Philadelphian,  The,  155. 
Philadelphia,  Presbytery  of,  155,  156, 

541.     Synod  of,  156,  157,  240,  241, 

245,  276,  277,  335 ;    censured,   27 ; 

contumacious,  215,  241. 
Phillips,  Dr.  W.  W.,  316.     Letter  of, 

518,  519. 
Pinney,  Rev.  J.  B.,  213. 
Piety,  377,392,  395 
Pious  frauds,  330-433. 
Plagiarism,  450. 
Plan    of  Union,  192,    250,    263,    326. 

Abrogated,  328. 
•  Plans  of  New  School  in  1838,  338-347. 
Plumer,  Dr.  W.  S.,  283,  311,  331,  334. 

Letters  to,  241,  242,  457,  517. 
Policy  without  intrigue,  391. 
Politics,  11,  382. 
Polk,  Bishop,  437. 
Popery,  Hist,  of,  248. 


Popish  Controversy,  248. 

Porter,  Dr.,  322. 

Porter,  Col.  P.  A.,  522. 

Power,  Lust  for,  333,  339. 

Prayer,  248. 

Prayer  Book,  Bible  and,  97-102. 

Prayer,  Daily,  470.  Family,  184. 
For  College,  85.  Meeting,  Female, 
102,  103.     Posture  in.  506,  507. 

Prayers,  Dr.  M.'s,  373,  506. 

Prayers,  Precomposed,  505,  506. 

Preacher,  Dr.  M.  as  a,  29,  30,  32,  33, 
372,  373,  381,400,401. 

Preaching,  Love  of,  398,  399. 

Preaching  and  Prayer,  504,  505. 
"         in  Princeton,  16,  17,  32. 

Predestination,  228. 

Prelatists,  Attacks  by,  430,  436. 

Presbyterian,  The,  455.  Extracts 
from,  309-311,397. 

Presbyterian  Church  case,  448. 
"  Preacher,  212. 

Presbvterianism,  508.  Tract  on,  255, 
258^  430. 

Presbyterians,  friends  of  liberty,  per- 
secuted but  not  persecuting,  not 
sectarian,  not  seeking  establish- 
ment, 21,  22. 

President  of  Board  of  For.  Miss.,  335. 

Pressly,  Dr.  J.  T.,  309. 

Pretty  Brook,  122. 

Priestley,  Dr.,  59,  63,  64—66,  366,389. 

Prime,  Dr.  S.  I.,  Reminiscences  of, 
411,  412. 

Primitive  and  Apostolical  Order  Vindi- 
cated, 429. 

Princeton,  Gentlemen  of,  316.  Re- 
view. See  Bib.  Repertory.  Review- 
ers, 252. 

Professions,  Learned,  421—423,  472. 

Professor,  The,  17,  18,  31,  32,  403— 
410. 

Professors  of  Seminary,  Harmony 
among,  503. 

Professorship,  Resignation  of,  484, 
498. 

Promises,  Cautious,  393. 

Protests  and  answer,  288. 

Publication,  Presbyterian  Board  of, 
417,  425.     Letter  to,  445. 

Publications,  Right  to  condemn,  158, 
159,  231,262,263,  273,  315. 

Publications,  Dr.  M.'s,  Sketch  of  the 
Seminary,  28.  Education  Circular, 
42.  Sermon  at  Ordination  of  Nevins, 
58.  Letter  to  Unitarian  Miscellany, 
60.  Serm.  at  Ordination  of  Goodell, 
Richards  and  Bishop,  70.  Thoughts 


INDEX, 


559 


on  Lay-preaching,  72.  Letters  on 
Eternal  Sonship,  7;{ — 82.  Letters 
on  Unitarianisin,  Gl — 68.  Serin. — 
Lit.  Fountains  ilealed,  85.  Serin. — 
Dedication  of  Arch  St.  Ch.,  8(3. 
Serin,  for  African  School,  87.  Loot, 
on  Creeds  and  Confessions,  lU) — 102. 
Reminiscences  of  Dr.  Livingston, 
107.  Disc,  before  Lit.  and  Phil. 
Soc.  of  N.  J.,  108.  In  Bib.  Ilcper- 
torj',  110.  Introd.  Lect. — Fewness 
of  Eminent  Ministers,  111.  Letter 
to  Gentleman  of  13alt.,  112.  Serin, 
at  Installation  of  Breckinridge,  115. 
Serin. — Being  on  Lord's  Side,  116. 
Clerical  Manners  and  ILibits,  123 — 
131.  Introd.  Lect. — Importance  of 
Ministry,  136.  Letter  on  S.  Schools, 
138.  Introd.  Lect. — Importance  of 
Mature  Study,  143 — 145.  Serm.  at 
Installation  of  Sprague,  145 — 147. 
Introd,  Ess.  to  Sprague's  xjectures  to 
Young,  147.  Murray  St.  Lecture, 
148.  Letters  on  Christian  Ministry, 
(republished),  159.  Two  Sermons 
on  Fasting,  164 — 167.  Essay  on 
Ruling  Eldership,  171 — 174.  Social 
Amusements,  186 — 189.  Spruce  St. 
Lecture,  212.  Serm. — Importance 
of  Gospel  Truth,  213.  Importance 
of  thorough  Prep.  Study,  (repub- 
lished,) 213.  Introd.  Letter  to 
Sprague  on  Revivals,  213.  Funeral 
Seun.  for  J.  W.  Barr,  21:-!.  Letters 
to  Presbyterians,  222—240.  Letter 
to  J.  McElhenuej',  227—236.  Introd. 
Ess.  to  Villers  on  Reformation,  241. 
Sermon  before  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, 249.  Presbyterianism,  255. 
Baptism,  255.  Funeral  Sermon  for 
G.  S.  Woodhull,  259.  Sermon  be- 
fore Alumni,  265.  Two  Sermons  on 
Domestic  Happiness,  269.  Sermon 
before  Am.  Board,  269.  Letter  on 
Temperance,  301.  In  Bib.  Reper- 
tory, 306-309.  Reminiscences  of  Dr. 
Nevins,  311.  Sermon  at  Installa- 
tion of  Backus,  311.  Two  sermons 
— .Christ  our  Righteousness,  311.  In 
N.Y.  Observer,  320.  Life  of  Jon.  Ed 
wards,  324.  Memoir  of  Dr.  Xisbet, 
425.  Primitive  and  Apostolic  Order  of 
Church,  429.  Circular  to  churches, 
331.  Reply  to  A  Layman,  432.  Re- 
ply to  Dr.  Weller,  4;'.3.  In  Watchman 
of  South,  334.  Sermon.  Dangers  of 
R,  Cath.  Seminaries,  335.  In  Bib  Re- 
pertory 335.  Sermon  before  Board 
F.  Misi.,  337.  Introd.  Let.  to  Scott'a 


Force  of  Truth,  4 38.  In  Episc  Re- 
corder, 438.  Letters  of  u  Grand- 
father, 351.  Mi  ju  Ecclos.,  ;;52.  In 
Bib.  Repertory,  ."(53,  351.  Report 
on  Education,  4 IS.  In  I'resljyleri- 
an — Ruling  Elders  and  Liccntiute.«, 
455.  Sermon  to  KMer.'*,  4.'»6.  Let- 
ters to  Sons  in  College,  4.jrt.  Rec- 
omincad.  Let.  for  Bower's  History  of 
Poj)e8,  461.  Address  before  N.  .1. 
Hist.  Soc,  474.  Letters  on  Monthly 
Concert,  475.  Uecoinincn*!.  Lot.  for 
Janeway's  Internal  Evidence,  476. 
Caldwell  Monument  Address,  478. 
Reminiscences  of  Dr.  (ireeu,  502- 
Answer  to  Clericus,  5(12.  Tooughts 
on  Public  Prayer,  504 — 505.  In- 
troductory Ess.  to  Articles  of  Synod 
of  Dort  ;  to  Harvey's  History  of 
Popery;  to  Agnew  on  the  Sabbath  ; 
Recuiiimendatiun  of  Hist,  of  Wal- 
denses;  Letter  to  Soc.  of  Inquiry  in 
Cincinnati  ;  Tracts  130  and  ;{61  of 
Am.  Tr.  Soc.  ;  Tract  167  of  Prueb. 
Board  of  Publication  ;  511. 

Public  Spirit,  3.^3. 

Pulmonary  Weakness,  497,  498. 

Pupil,  Letter  to,  48S. 

Pupils,  Reminiscences  of,  411 — 11 G. 

Puritans,  479. 

QriKT  years,  132.  174. 
(.Quotations,  Garbled,  441. 

RAVE5SCROFT,  Bishop,  106. 

Reading,  Systematic  Sabbath,  471. 

Record,  Trial  without,  277. 

Reed,  Dr.  A.,  Letter  to,  312. 
"     W.  B.,  628. 

Reform,  Church,  325—347. 
"     Social,  292— :U)5. 

Reformed  drunkard.  303. 

Religion,  Household,  175—190. 
"     Vital,  19. 

Religious  experience,  176,  177. 
"     Services  in  Princeton,  16,  17. 

Reproof  of  faults,  401. 

Reininiscence.-i,  by  Dr.  M.,  of  Dr. 
(Jreen,  502,  503.  Of  Dr.  Livingston, 
107.     Of  Dr.  Nevini,  311. 

Reminiscences  of  Dr.  M.,  by  .1.  W. 
Blythe,  399,  412.  By  .M.  E.  Bnok- 
inridge,  391,5;{6.  Bv  Dr.  Carnahun, 
371-377.  By  A.  De'  Witt.  41j.  By 
Dr.  Co.x,  377— 3H1.  Bv  G.  Ely,  52;t— 
523.  Bv  Dr.  J.  Hall,  400.  By  Dr. 
L.  J.  lialsev,  127,  409.  410.  By 
Judge  Fiel.l.  3^1.  By  H.  W.  Hunt. 
401.     By  W.  HunttiDg,  412.     lij  » 


560 


INDEX. 


By    Dr. 
By  Dr. 

Miscel- 


Of  mem- 


lady,  309.  By  A.  W.  Loomis,  412— 
414.  By  Dr.  Murray,  530—534.  By 
Dr.  S.  I.  Prime,  4U,  412.  By  for 
mer  Pupils,  411 — 416. 
Sprasue,  29—36,  534,  535 
F.  DeW.  Ward,  414,  415. 
laueous,  384-397. 

Residence  in  Princeton,  13. 

Resignation,  Grace  of,  484. 

bership  in  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  367.  Of 
Professorship,  498,  499,  500,  &15— 
518. 

Resolutions  on    coming  to  Princeton, 
9—11,398,407. 

Retrospect    of  18th    Century,  15,  189, 
508. 

Revision  of   Gov.,  Discipl.,  and  Wor- 
ship. 24. 

Revivals,  27,  238,  239. 

Rhetoric,  Grammar  and,  509. 

Rice,  Dr.  B.  H.,  242. 

"  Dr.  J.  H.,  37,  45,  70-72,  89,  198, 
265.  Letters  of,  37,  117  ;  To,  20,  37, 
44,  51,  115.  Miss.  Overture  of, 
232. 

Richards,    Dr.   J.,  42,  203,  281,    377. 
Letter  to,  12. 

Richards,  Rev.  W.,  69. 

Riding  and  driving,  121 — 123. 

Robinson,  Gov.,  33. 

Eogers,  Judge,  360. 

Roman    C.    Seminaries,    Dangers    of, 
335. 

Romans,  Barnes's  Notes  on,  273 — 276, 
285-288,  315. 

Rural  Pursuits,  117—123. 

Rush,  Dr.,  425. 

Russell,  Rev.  J.  T.,  156. 

Sabbath,  185.     Last   on   Earth,  538, 

539.     Name    of,    307.     Observance, 

471.     Reading,    471.     School,    138, 

139,  185. 
Salary,  428.     Return  of,  516,  518. 
Sanford,  Letter  to  Rev.  Jos.,  92. 
Saratoga  Springs,  426. 
Scattering  and  increasing,  134. 
Schism  of  1741,  227. 
Schooley's  Mountain,  103,  104. 
Schools,  179,  410. 
Scott,  Dr.  Th.,  492.     Force  of  Truth 

by,  430,  438. 
Scriptures,  Learning  by  heart  the,  184, 

185. 
Secession  from  church,  313,  325. 
Second  Presb.  of  Philad.  (Assembly's,) 

215,    238,   240,    241,  249,  250,    290. 

Censured,  276,  282,  283.     (Synod's) 

240,  241,  250. 
Secret  conclaves,  290. 


Sectarianism,  309. 

Self-possession,  385,  394. 

Seminary,  Princeton  Theolog.,  25. 
Building  of,  13,  14.  Course  of  in- 
struction in,  46.  Fears  for,  253, 
254.  Number  of  students,  13,  45, 
56,  73,  106.  Origin  of,  502,  503. 
Rise  and  Progress  of,  474.  Rivals 
of,  52,  317.  Sketch  of,  28.  Straits 
of,  45,  95,  240,  460. 

Sergeant,  E..  Death  of,  479.  Letter 
to,  220. 

Sergeant,  J..  19,  49.  216.  Letters  of, 
360,  361,  448.     Death  of,  549. 

Sergeant,  J.  D.,  51. 

"     Thos.,  Letter  of,  425. 

Sermon,  Funeral,  by  Dr.  Alexander, 
544. 

Sernaons,  Abstracts  of,  186.  Last,  520, 
523—525.     See  Publications. 

Silver  dollars,  178,  179. 

Skinner,  Dr.  T.  H.,  114,  140,  309. 

Slaveholding,  300. 

Slavery,  87—90,  266.  Duty  of  Church 
respecting,  297,  298.  Report  on, 
292. 

Small-pox.  378. 

Smith,  Bishop,  306. 
"     J.  C,  26r>,  323,  .324. 
"     Dr.  S.  S.,  Death  and  funeral  of, 
40. 

Snodgrass,  Dr.  W.  D.,  148. 

Social  character,  374,  382,  384,  391. 

Societies  to  aid  Seminary,  12. 

"     Am.  Whig  and  Cliosophic,  108. 

Society  of  Inquii-y,  Letter  to,  511. 

Soeinians,  59,  327,  366. 

Son,  Letters  to,  357,  457,  461,  488,  510, 
516    525. 

Southard,  S.  L.,  108. 

Southern  Churchman,  430. 

Sparks,  Rev.  J.,  60,  324.  Am.  Biog. 
of,  324.     Letter  to,  90. 

Spectral  illusions,  495. 

Spencer,  Dr.  E.,  39. 

Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims,  137,  147. 

Sprague,  Dr.,  418.  Anniversary  Dis- 
course by,  547.  Disc.  Commemora- 
tive, 545.  Extracts  from,  124,  125, 
324,  332,  384, 388,  389,  392—394,  508, 
543.  Installation  of,  145.  Lectures 
on  Revivals,  213.  Lectures  to 
Young,  147.  Letters  to,  58,  64,  69, 
90,  108,  110,  135,  139,  147,  333. 
Reminiscences  by,  29 — 36,  534,  535. 

Spring,  Dr.  G.,  25,  205,  232,  281.  Ex- 
tracts from,  113,  149. 

Spruce  St.  Lecture,  212. 

Squier,  Rev.  Mr.,  342. 

State  attachment,  14. 


INDEX. 


5G1 


state  of  Church,  132. 

Stewart,  Mr..  Speech  of,  264,  265. 

Stone.  Dr.,  492. 

Stowe,  Prof.,  270,  280,  283. 

Stuart,  Mr.,  Letter  to.  245. 

"  Prof..  55,  74.  322.  Letter  of. 
128.  Letters  on  Eternal  Sonshij)  of, 
75 — 77.  Students  of  Seminary,  In- 
tercourse with,  34. 

Sturdevant.  Rev.  J.  M.,  284. 

Sturges,  Rev.  S.,  Letter  to,  485. 

Subscription  to  Standards,  Terms  of, 
25.  230—238,  320,  519. 

Swift,  Dr.  E.  P.,  Letter  of,  02;  To, 
205,  213,  243. 

Symmetry,  390. 

System,  Exact,  386,  393. 

Taylor,  Rev.  J.,  Letter  of,  63  ;  to,  03. 
"  Dr.  N.  W.,  115,  149,  150,  154, 
203,  280,  281,  323,  324,  320,  327, 
342,417,418. 

Taylorism,  149,  150,  320.  327. 

Tactics,  Ecclesiastical,  313,  315. 
"     Of  Prelatists,  430. 

Temper,  391,  392,  394. 

Temperance,  300 — 305,  374,  375,  385, 
440,  447,  522. 

Ten  Eyck,  Mrs.,  13. 

Testimony,  Record  of.  402. 

Testimony  and  Memorial.  328. 

Theological  Institute  of  Conn.,  238. 
"     Review,  110.     See   Bib.   Reper- 
tory. 

Theological  Societ7,  409. 

Third  Presbytery  of  N.  Y.,  250. 

"  Philadelphia,  290, 

331. 

Thompson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  M.,  178. 

Thorn  well.  Dr.,  174. 

Time,  Redeeming  the,  386. 

Tobacco,  Use  of,  375. 

Toleration,  307. 

Tract  and  Book  Soc,  Presbyterian, 
245,  255,  417. 

Triumph  and  Defeat,  261—291. 

Troubles  Without  and  Within,  191— 
221. 

Trusteeship,  College,  370,  377.  Resig- 
nation of,  537. 

Trustees,  Letter  to  College,  537. 

Tustin,  Dr.,  Letters  of  and  to,  495. 

Tyler,  Dr.,  270,  280,  2S1,  322,  323. 

Union,  Christian.  146,  242.  306. 
Unitarian  Miscellany,  60.  62,  101, 102. 
Unitarian  of  Baltimore,  60,  61. 
Unitarianism,  Letters  on,  28,  61 — 69, 
74,  75. 


Unitarians,  61—06. 

United  Doiii.  Mien.  Soc.  of  N.  Y.,  113. 

"     For.  Miss.  Soc.  197.  336. 
Universal  Salvation,  D«>(;trinc  of,  47. 
Univorsitv     of    IV-un.,  Ccutcni»ry    of, 

521,  52H. 
I'tica,  Synod  of,  ;!30. 

Vaci'ination,  .'17."^. 
Valetudinarianism,     121.    378,    425— 

127,  402,  473,  497—501. 
Van  Dyck,  A.,  406. 
Van  Rensselaer,  Dr.,  Agent  for  Princo- 

tun  Seminary,    160. 
Views     in    Theology,    Dr.     Becchcr'B, 

284. 
Villers  on  Reformation,  241. 
Virginia     Magazine,  37,    38,    51,    Sy, 

102. 
Voluntary      So  ietiea      and     Church 

Boar.ls',    114.     132,    236,  263,'  320, 

321,  326,  444.  511. 
Voluntary    Societies,    Plea    for.    319, 

320. 
Voting,  11. 

AVales,  J.,  48. 

"       Mrs.  Letters  to,  191,  334. 
Ward,  Rev.  F.  DeW.,  414.  415. 
Watchman     and    Reflector,     Extract 

from,  127. 
Watchman  of  the  South,  3.34. 
Watchman,    Hist,    of  Popery    by   a, 

248. 
Watts,  Dr..  60,  492. 
Way  of  Salvation,  Barnes's  Serm.  on, 

150.  152,  155. 
Webster,  Dr.  M.  and  D.,  397. 
Weller,  Dr.,  433. 
Wesley,  J.din.  495. 
Western.  F.  Miss.  Soc,  198,  205—207, 

223,  232,  24.3,  250,  263,    288,  289, 

310,  33.'->. 
Western  Memorial,  250. 

*•       Reserve.  Synod  of,  329,  330. 
Westminster  As8«nib.,  49,  50. 
Whig,  Dr.  .M.  a.  12. 
Wilkesbarro.  Synod  at.  420. 
Will  and -Testament,   Last,  54T.  ^i    , 

550. 
Willard'.i  Body  of  Divinity,  50. 
Wilmington.  IVesbytory  of,  2y0. 
Wilson,  Dr.  J.  L.,  20y,*284. 

"        "     J.  P..  114.  150,  154,  155, 

174,  266.    On  Eldernhip,  173. 
Wine  drinking.  Scrupulous,  304,  305, 

"     Old,  30 1,   305. 
Wisner,  Dr.  H.  B.,  Letters  of  129j  to, 

54;  60,    f<'    M     1  •■.  i:;s. 


562 


INDEX. 


Witherspoon,  Dr.  J.,  292,  295,  296, 
322,  323,  331. 

Woodbridge,  Dr.  J.  281. 

Woodhull,  Rev.  G.  S.,  Death  and  Fun- 
eral of,  259. 

Woods,  Dr.  L.,  270,  322.  Letter  of,  645. 

Worcester,  Dr.,  57. 

Worldly  Amusements,  186-190. 


Worship,  Family,  184. 

"       Public,  185,  186. 
Worth's  Mill,  122. 
Writer,  Dr.  M.  as  a,  372. 
Writing,  Manner  of,  510. 

Young  men   Solicitude  for,  468.  Win 
ning,  458,  459. 


